


take me back

by jaybaybay



Category: Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, BAMF Peter Parker, Broken Bones, Electrocution, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hallucinations, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Shuri, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapped Peter Parker, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Peter Parker Whump, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Torture, Whump, Worried Tony Stark, kidnapped shuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-06-10 23:46:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 47,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15302709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaybaybay/pseuds/jaybaybay
Summary: Peter and Shuri are kidnapped by a gang of bandits who demand ransom money for the princess of Wakanda. They’ll soon find out that they have more then one prize in their grasp.





	1. Guests

**Author's Note:**

> yay i'm back with a new story!
> 
> this chapter might seem slow, and it was really hard for me to write because I just want to get right into the action but I need to establish details and stuff so yeah. 
> 
> The whump is coming I promise

May was going away for a week. 

Something about about a new job opportunity and business stuff and blah. Peter had stopped listening after she told him that he would be spending the week with Tony at the tower. 

May watched him with amusement from her spot on their couch as he jumped around in a circle with excitement like a little kid, already blabbering about what him and Tony were going to do together.

“Wait, when are you leaving?” he asked, bouncing from one foot to the other. May scoffed.

“That eager to get rid of me, are you?” she said with a smirk, and Peter deflated. 

“What! No May…” He whined and dropped to his knees in front of her, placed his hands on her knees and his chin on his hands. “...you know I didn’t mean it like that.” he pouted.

“I know.” She chuckled and leaned forward to brush a couple stray curls from Peters face. “I’m leaving in two days, so until then you’re stuck with me still.” Peter climbed up onto the couch to sit beside her. 

“Why’d you wait so long to tell me?”

“Well I only got the email a couple of days ago, and I knew you’d shit your pants in anticipation if i’d told you any sooner.” He laughed at that.

“Well, you’re not wrong.” He leaned his head onto her shoulder and sighed. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Nah, you won’t. You’ll be too caught up in playing around with all of Starks fancy toys to notice that i’m not there” She nudged his shoulder then stood up to go take her evening shower before her night shift. 

“That’s not true!” he hollered after her before pulling out his phone. This summer was starting off great, and he had to tell Ned about it.

 

Two days later Peter was helping Happy stuff his suitcases into the trunk of the car Happy was driving that day. 

“Jesus kid how much did you pack, your whole closet?” Peter just snorted, he was used to Happys sass.

“Hey, um, I thought Mr. Stark said he was going to come pick me up?” Happy just looked at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“Plans change… don’t you watch the news?” He asked while getting in the car. Peter just looked at him, the answer plain on his face. Happy rolled his eyes. “You’re not the only kid Tony has to babysit this week.”

“Oh.” Peter sagged into his seat, disappointed. Happy only laughed.

“Relax, you’ll still be his favourite.” As he began to drive he glanced over at Peter who was staring out the window. “Do you seriously not know? It’s been all over the news.”

“No, i’ve been too busy patrolling. There hasn’t been much else for me to do this summer.” He grumbled.

“Well anyways, Stark Industries has teamed up with a group of Wakandan scientists and together they’re opening up a science institution in Manhattan. The princess herself is coming over with a group of delegates to seal the deal.” 

“Woah, no way! That’s cool I guess.” Peters interest was suddenly peaked but he was secretly not looking forward to having to share his time with Tony, especially if it was with a stuck up princess. He had heard of this princess a couple of times before, her name was Shari, or Shuri, or something like that. She was said to be one of the smartest minds of their time, which was totally awesome, but gave even more reason for Mr. Stark to pay more attention to her. Peter could feel a spark of jealousy in his chest at that. 

“Don’t worry they’ll only be here for a few days, then you’ll have Tony all to yourself.” Happy said with amusement. Peters mood lightened slightly, she might not even be around him and Tony at all anyways, she will probably want to stay with her people. 

“When does she get here?” 

“Later tonight.” 

“Oh, nice.” Peter decided that he didn’t really care anyways, besides it was only for a couple of days. Plus, he would get bragging rights. Not many people got to meet the princess of Wakanda. This was just another thing he could tell Ned about. 

 

Mr. Stark was waiting for him in the front foyer of the tower when he got there. Tony waved at him as he approached, the other hand holding his phone to his ear. 

“Yeah ok, could you wait a minute?... thank you.” He brought his phone hand to his chest and reached out an arm to sling over Peters shoulders. “Hey kiddo, sorry about this. I’ll be done in a sec.” He said quietly while gesturing to the phone in his hand with his head. Peter just nodded and smiled politely as they walked towards the elevator together, his stuff in both of his hands. He was patient, and he knew that Tony was a famous businessman on top of being an Avenger.

Tony stayed on the phone the whole elevator ride to the floor that Peter's room was located on but his hand never once left his shoulder. When they stepped out of the elevator Tony pulled his phone away from his ear again.

“Why don’t you go put your things in your room and i’ll meet you there in a bit.” he stated with a pat to Peters arm, bringing the phone back to his ear again.

“Ok.” Peter made his way to the guest bedroom that he had adopted as his own. He couldn’t count the number of times that he had fallen asleep in Mr. Starks workshop and woken up in that bed. 

Over the time that their relationship has grown, more and more of Peters belongings had been left behind at the tower, and had been relocated to that room. His room. When Tony had started calling it that, and when Peter accidentally called him “Dad” a few times he realized that the tower had become his second home. Which was nice for Peter because that meant he had more than one parental figure in his life again and he loved it.

He reached his room, tossed his bags onto his bed and began to unpack his things. He really didn’t bring much, just enough outfits for the whole week, hsi spider man suit, some comic books, and video games. He had been trying to get Mr. Stark to play Mario Kart with him for months but he had always been too busy, or other things came up. Maybe this was his chance. He smiled evilly, he was going to whoop Tony’s ass. 

He was putting his clothes away when he heard Tony walking towards his room. He looked up from what he was doing when he walked in.

“Hey Mr. Stark!” He greeted as he continued to put away his clothes. 

“Hey Pete.” Tony made his way into Peter's washroom and started fixing his hair in the mirror. “Hey, I know you just got here but i’m kinda hungry, d’you wanna go out to eat?” He popped his head out of the doorway and wiggled his eyebrows at Peter, “We can get ice cream after.” 

“Um, let me think about that..” he brought his hand to his chin in a quizzical manner, then slammed shut the drawer he was putting his clothes in. “...yes.” They walked out of the room together laughing, and talking.

 

They sat together eating their ice cream in a small parlor on the edge of the city, away from prying eyes and paparazzi. They went there often enough that getting ice cream became their thing that they did together. It was their way of connecting whenever the workshop or tower got boring. There was usually a couple of other people in there with them, but today there was just one other man who was sitting alone in the back. 

“Mr. Stark?” Tony was currently looking down at his phone in his hand, ice cream melting in his other. 

“Yeah bud?”

“Who were you on the phone with earlier? If y-you don’t mind me asking.” He asked before taking a lick of his ice cream. Tony put his phone down and started back on his own again. 

“Oh, just some person at Stark Industries trying to put some last minute touches on the Wakandans arrangements before the meetings start tomorrow. Which I was meaning to talk to you about anyways.” Peter raised an eyebrow.

“Oh really?” another lick. 

“Just like about what you’re planning on doing while i’m in the meetings and such. Maybe you can make friends with the princess, she’s around your age and I don’t know if she will attend all the meetings or not.” 

“Oh yeah, that would be so cool.” He tried to smile through all the ice cream in his mouth. “But uh, if she’s busy then I was just gonna patrol.” he said with a shrug.

“That’ll work.” he nodded his head in agreement before his tone went more serious. “Sorry about all this though Peter.”

“Sorry about what?” 

“I promised your aunt that I would watch you while she’s away but instead i’m going to be away from you.”

“It’s ok Tony, I get it.” Mr. Stark smiled.

“You just called me Tony.” He pointed out with a satisfied smirk. Peter felt his cheeks flush a little.

“I- what, no I didn’t” He tried to cover himself up but it was too late, Mr. Stark had already heard him say it. Mr. Stark had asked him to call him Tony many times in the past, but Peter just couldn’t break the habit of saying “Mr. Stark”. Now whenever “Tony” slipped he got teased.

“Ah, ah! Don’t try to pretend that you didn’t say it!” Tony laughed out. Peter just sulked and ate his ice cream. “No but seriously, I really am sorry kiddo. I should have nights off though. Maybe we can play that game you keep asking to me to play, what’s it called? Mario fart or whatever.”

“Mario Kart.” Peter corrected, then started to laugh. “Mario fart? Are you serious?” He accidentally snorted and started to choke on the melted ice cream sitting in the back of his throat, causing Tony to laugh at him too. He reached across the table and smacked Peters back to try and help him stop coughing, it didn’t make a difference.

“Are you ok?” He asked around his own laughs.

“Oh man.” Peter wiped at the tears forming in his eyes after the worst of the choking had passed. “You are so going down, I am a pro at Mario Kart.” 

“Are you sure about that? You almost just got taken out by an ice cream cone.” 

“Shut up.” He groaned in embarrassment. He noticed the man in the back was watching him intently but he shrugged it off. He was drawing a lot of attention to himself and his spidey sense hadn’t gone off. 

Tony's phone vibrated and he picked it up to look at it. He quickly typed something on it before turning it off and stuffing it into his back pocket.

“We should get back. The Wakandans will be here in about two hours and we still have to get ready. Then we can all have dinner together.” They both stood up from the table, and made their way to the exit. Tony chucked his cone into the garbage as they walked by, Peter was still trying to finish his. 

“Hey! That’s a waste of food!” He protested.

“You say that like I don’t have money to spare.”

“Well I know, but I could have ate that!” Tony just grinned at him as he held the door open for him. It was true, Peters fast metabolism caused him to eat twice as much as a normal teenager.

“Don’t worry, you’re gonna be stuffed by the time dinner is over.” They walked back to Tony's car together and drove back to the tower. 

 

Tony wanted Peter to wear something nice for dinner, and to greet the Wakandans in, but Peter didn’t bring anything fancier than a plain blue shirt. All his other ones had science puns on them. 

So, Tony gave Peter one of his old suits, and it fit perfectly. 

Peter felt really uncomfortable in it, he wasn’t one for formal events. He didn’t like dressing up, and the last time he did he almost died. But Mr. Stark said he looked great, and that was good enough for him. 

Tony kept him right by his side as they, and all the other Stark Industries representatives welcomed the Wakandans as they arrived on the landing port of Stark tower. Peter felt a surge of pride when Tony introduced him as his protege, instead of his intern. 

He shook the hands of four Wakandan scientists before greeting the princesses caretaker, then the princess herself. She turned towards him after shaking hands with Tony. She had two scary looking bald women with spears trailing behind her. He held out his hand for her to take, and she took it. She looked at him with friendly eyes.

“Hello, i’m Shuri.” she said with a thick accent. 

“H-hey, i’m Peter. Parker. Y-your majesty.” Damn stutter always getting in the way when he was nervous. She sighed.

“Just Shuri please, I really do not like the titles.” It dawned on him that she was only a year older than him, and he suddenly felt super awkward shaking her hand. Her caretaker came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Shuri…” She began speaking in a language that Peter assumed was Wakandan. Shuri rolled her eyes and let go of Peters hand. 

“Yes alright Munty, I know.” She began to walk towards the rest of the group with her caretaker, who he guessed was named “Munty”. At least that’s what Shuri called her. He was left standing all by himself, not knowing what to do with himself.

“Hey Pete!” He looked over to see Tony waving him over, so he went over to him. They all took the stairs down a flight into Tony's expansive dining hall and gathered around the table that was set. Peter ended up in the corner seat beside Shuri with Tony seated at the end of the table. 

The table was littered with various African dishes as well as American. Peter thought he would try a bit of both. The two teens sat in silence for a few minutes as the adults talked amongst themselves. Shuri left out a satisfied groan as she chewed a bit of chicken.

“Is there anything better than piri piri?” 

“Yes, a really good book.” He replied without hesitation. The adults at the table laughed a bit at his remark before getting back into their own conversations. Shuri just looked at him with wide eyes. 

“It’s uh, it’s from a-”

“A vine I know.” Now it was Peter's turn to look at her in surprise.

“You watch vines?” they asked each other at the same time. Shuri giggled afterwards nodding her head. Peter decided to quiz her knowledge. 

“Don’t make me say it…” 

“I don’t care that you broke your elbow!” She laughed clapping her hands together, and Peter smiled wildly. “Yes! I watch them in my lab sometimes when I run out of ideas of things to work on.”

“Oh my god, me too! Whenever I get tired of working in the lab with Mr. Stark I watch old vine compilations.” Soon, they could not stop talking to each other barely taking any time to eat or breathe. They talked about vines, memes, and lots and lots of science. They both realized that they had a lot in common with each other, and Peter realized if he kept this up, he may have a new best friend. 

Their subject turned to video games and Peter was struck with a great idea. 

“Hey Shuri do you wanna go play Mario Kart with me?” She looked at him strangely.

“I have never played.” Now he _had_ to get her to play with him.

“It’s super fun, it’s a video game where you race cars.” 

“Oh, I think I have heard of this yes. We have a version of this at home but with real cars that we drive from our sandbox.” That didn’t really make any sense to Peter, but he accepted it without question.

“Ok… well we have a wii downstairs in the common room, and you have to come play it with me.” He got up from his seat with a jump and Shuri followed suit. They were they only two people still left at the table, everyone else had moved to the couches and some had gone to their rooms already.

They were on their way to the elevator when Shuri suddenly stopped with a groan. 

“Wait Peter, I have to tell Munty where I am going, I will be right back.” She turned and ran over to where her caretaker was seated on one of Tony's sofas, talking with one of the Wakandan scientists. 

Peter was far enough away that if he didn’t have enhanced senses he wouldn't be able to hear them speak to each other. However they spoke to each other in Wakandan again so he didn’t know what they were saying anyways. 

As Shuri was speaking with Munty he noticed that there was a Stark Industries man whom Peter had never seen before, seated on the opposite side of the room watching Shuri closely. He supposed that since she was a bit of a celebrity she would naturally draw some people's attention, but this man put a funny feeling in his gut. 

His attention was drawn back to Shuri when she pointed over at him. Peter smiled and waved when he felt Muntys gaze wash over him. A few more words were exchanged in Wakandan and soon Shuri was walking back over to him, a skip in her step. 

“Sorry about that, my mother put her in charge of me while we are on this trip. The woman will not let me do anything unless I have her permission.” She said with obvious displeasure. 

“It’s cool… what’d she say?” Peter asked.

“That she will come get me at ten o’clock…” she paused with a smile on her face “...and not to get too distracted because you are very handsome. For a white boy.” He laughed at that and blushed a little. She grabbed his arm and started to pull him towards the elevator. “Now come on, show me this video game you speak so highly about.” And with that, they ran off together.

 

A woman leaned back in her chair as her men gave her their reports.

“The princess has arrived and has settled into Stark Tower without any issues.”

“Good.”

“We also looked into the boy that has been seen with Stark.” He passed her a tablet with a photo of a brown haired kid on it. He was standing beside Tony Stark with a smile on his face, Starks arm slung around his shoulders. “His name is Peter Parker, student at Midtown high school, and an Intern for Tony Stark.” 

She zoomed in on his face.

“Cute kid. Looks a little too comfortable to just be an intern…”

“That’s what we were thinking.”

“We could get a fair price off of his head too… bring them both in.” She passed the tablet back to the man and placed her feet on the table in front of her. 

“On it boss.” He walked out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him.

They had work to do.


	2. Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were making slow progress when Peters spidey sense spiked again. He looked up to see a man dressed in all black standing on the roof of the building beside them. He was aiming a gun at Shuris chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished this sooner then I thought I would 
> 
> oof this is getting fun

Shuri caught onto Mario Kart very quickly.

It also didn’t take her long to start asking personal questions.

“So Peter, you are Tony Stark's son?” she asked as she tailed behind his kart.

“What! No, no Mr. Stark is not my Dad.” 

“Oh, ok… grandson?” he laughed at that.

“No… look our relationship is just… it’s kind of complicated I guess.” he swerved his kart to avoid her green shell. He was starting to actually consider telling her about Spider man.

“Complicated how…? She asked slowly. He could tell her right? She was his friend now he supposed. He sighed, mind made up.

“Can you keep a secret?” Her eyebrows raised in interest.

“Yes?”

“Well… i’m Spiderman, and Tony sorta mentors me.” He said quietly, through his teeth in case anyone else was around. 

“You’re what?!” She practically shouted, letting her kart drive straight off the track to look at him with wonder. “Oh my God! Are you actually Spi-” Peter cut her off by placing his hand over her mouth, his kart sitting forgotten in the middle of the track also.

“Sshhhh! Shuri be quiet, not very many people know. I’ve got a secret identity.” He slowly removed his hand from her face revealing the worlds biggest smile.

“This is amazing!” She said in a stage whisper, then gasped. “I’ve seen your youtube videos!”

“Really?” he asked surprised.

“Yes! I am a really big fan, a-are you really…” she made a big deal of looking around before mouthing “Spiderman”. Peter just nodded his head and watched as Shuris giddy grin turned into a mischievous one. “Prove it.”

She reminded him of Mj.

 

Tony finally escaped the social interactions at around 9:30, and decided to go find Peter. He figured now would be a good time to send the kid to bed incase a problem arose and he forgot about him.

He saw him leave with the princess at 8:00ish, after watching them connect at dinner and decided to check the common room first. 

Sure enough, as soon as he stepped out of the elevator he could hear video game noises, shouting, and chanting from down the hall. As he walked towards the noise he started to become a little worried at what he was going to find.

He turned the corner to find them playing Mario Kart with the volume cranked. Peter was standing on the ceiling, hanging upside down, and Shuri was dancing around on the ground, both of their backs were to him. They were both managing to chant “you better watch out” over, and over again while simultaneously laughing their pants off and screaming whenever they lost control of their Karts. Neither one of them noticed Tony walk in.

Jesus Christ, there’s two of them now.

“HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS UPSIDE DOWN?” Shuri yelled over the video game noises.

“I HAVE NO IDEA!” Peter yelled back laughing like a maniac before he stopped abruptly and whipped his head around, body tense, sensing something. He saw it was just Tony and he visibly relaxed a bit, before he turned back around to the face the game again. 

“Hey Mr. Stark!”

“Hey kid.” Now it was Shuris turn to turn around, when she saw Tony she let out a quick yelp of surprise, and covered her mouth with her hand letting out a nervous giggle. Peter flipped gracefully off of the ceiling and onto the couch. He walked over to the TV to turn off the sound on the game and to pause it.

“My apologies, Mr. Stark” She said straightening out her skirt “I did not hear you enter.” He just shrugged.

“It’s alright, I was just looking to see where Peter was.” Peter flopped onto one of the couches in the room.

“Well you found me. Hey, since you’re here do you wanna finally try playing with me?” He offered a controller out to him and Shuri took a seat beside Peter at the couch. 

“Sorry, but not this time Peter, i’m sending you to your room for the night now.” He strolled over to behind where Peter was sitting and placed his hands on the back of Peters shoulders. Peter tilted his head back and looked at him.

“What! Come on, just one round please.”

“Hmm, tempting, but i’ve got an entire tower full of personnel to take care of at the moment, and one certain teenager- which is you by the way, is at the top of my list of priorities. So if I know that you’re safe and in one spot for the rest of the night, it would make my whole life much easier.” 

“So?” 

“Bed time.” Peter groaned.

“But Mr. Stark, it’s only 9:30” he whined. “And Shuri has permission to stay up here until ten.”

“Still bedtime kiddo. Besides, your highness, I do believe that your nanny was looking for you.” 

“Nanny?” Shuri sounded confused. Peter turned his head to look at her instead.

“Munty.” He supplied her with and recognition spread across her face.

“Oh, i’d better go then Peter. That woman will tell my mother that I am misbehaving and she will send me straight home if I do not listen to her.” Peter got up off of the couch and offered a hand to Shuri, helping her up. 

“Ok, fine. Bed time then.” 

Tony and Peter walked Shuri back up a floor to Munty. The two teens already talking about what they were going to do the next day together while the meetings were happening. Shuri said she was going to attended the first one, but after that she wouldn’t have to. Munty wanted her to go to at least one, so she could sign some documents and stuff.

The two teens hugged each other before parting ways for the evening and Tony felt slightly guilty about separating them. They would be able to see each other for the next few days though. 

“So, did you tell her about your spider-boy friend?” He asked as he walked Peter to his bedroom.

“Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I did.” That’s odd, Peter had trouble coming out to his own aunt about that. He looked at Peter in amazement. 

“Wow. How come?” Peter just shrugged, their walking came to a stop at his doorway.

“I don’t know actually. I feel like we really get each other, you know.” He opened the door and they walked inside together. “Besides, it turns out she’s a big fan soo…” he jumped onto his bed and rolled onto his back, crossing his arms behind his head. Tony leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.

“Do you like her?” 

“Yeah, yeah she’s great I really li- wait!” He sat up and looked at him with wide eyes. “You don’t mean… like a crush?” Tony nodded his head slowly. “Ew, no Mr. Stark!” He covered his face with his hands. “We just met!”

“Alright, alright. I was just making sure I wasn’t going to have to give you the talk or anything.” Peters face turned an angry red and Tony just smiled smugly. “You need anything before I go?” he changed the subject.

“No!” Peter shouted, hands still covering his face. 

“Ok, i’m going now.” he started to walk away.

“Good!”

“I’ll have F.R.I.D.A.Y wake you in the morning for breakfast.”

“Fine.” He laid back down on his bed. Tony reached his doorway.

“Goodnight Peter.”

“Goodnight Mr. Stark” He heard Peter say as he closed his door. When he turned around he thought he saw someone walk past the end of the hall. But it must have been his imagination, no one else had rooms on this floor but the Avengers, which were all currently vacated except for his and Peters. He decided to check anyway.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, is there anyone else on this floor other than Peter and I?” She took a couple seconds longer to respond than usual.

“No boss, at this moment there is only two persons on this floor.” He considered asking her to check for any other security breaches but decided against it, he knew he was just being paranoid.

Pepper had sent him the finest Stark Industries personnel for this, he had asked her to fact check each and every one of them and she had. He had no reason to feel so anxious. 

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. 

 

Over the next two days Peter fell into a routine. 

Shuri ended up having to attend meetings every morning, so Peter would go out to patrol. He would come back and have lunch with Tony, and Shuri, and everyone else, then go back uptown with Shuri in the afternoon. 

It had taken a lot of begging on Shuris part to get Munty to let her go out with him. Munty eventually folded and allowed her to go as long as Shuri had her kimoyo beads on at all time. 

Peter took her to all kinds of places, never too far away from the tower though. He knew a lot of shortcuts that were around the tower so they ended up taking a lot of alleyways and sketchy roads, but Peter always had her back after two hours so Munty wouldn’t worry. 

The evenings they would spend in the lab. Tony had let the two of them in his workshop after making them promise that they wouldn’t destroy anything. 

Shuri showed him all kinds of different Wakandan technologies, and fancy gadgets that she had made herself. Peter learned so much from her, and he soaked up all the new information she was giving him. In return, he taught her about his web shooters. She was very impressed that he had made them himself, and offered to make him some new ones out of vibranium. 

Soon it was Shuris third, and final day at the tower before she was scheduled to go back home to Wakanda. Shuri wanted to go to the mall to get a souvenir, so that’s where Peter took her. They followed the same path that they had taken all the previous times.

She bought a spiderman action figure, that made Peters heart warm.

They were on their way back to the tower when Peters spider sense started screaming at him and he froze in the middle of the street they were walking on. He looked around expecting to find an imminent threat but there was nothing to see. 

Everything was quiet.

Too quiet. 

There were no cars out, or people walking around. Peter was growing increasingly more uncomfortable, they had to get out of there. Shuri stopped walking and talking when she noticed her friend had stopped. Seeing Peters discomfort, and how tense he was she came back over to him.

“Peter…?” She looked at him with worry in her eyes. “Are you alright?” 

Then he heard it, a small projectile coming towards them. He ducked and pulled Shuri down with him just as something flew over their heads and ricocheted off the corner of a building directly behind Shuri.

“Run!” he pushed her towards the alley beside them as he got back to his feet. They hadn’t gotten far when Peter felt a sharp sting in the back of his neck and stumbled forward a hand going up to grasp it tightly. His vision was starting to blur slightly at the edges when Shuri started to tug on his arm, pulling him forward.

“Keep going.” She steered him down the rest of the alley, until they turned a corner entering a new one. Peter was starting to get dizzy, and he started to stagger a bit, his body was getting harder to control. He had just been running, but his breathing was still coming in slow. Peter couldn’t tell if his spider sense had started to dull or if it was just the thing he had been shot with that was dampening his senses. It was getting harder to think and Peter decided to take his chance.

“Wait” He tried, but his tongue was made of rubber. Shuri seemed to understand him though and turned around to face him. He pulled the object out of his neck and looked down at it.

“Peter, what…” she stopped when she saw the small dart that had been in Peters neck only seconds ago. “Oh my god.” She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Sit down, I will call for help.” 

“I’m fine, we have to get back to the tower.” He could feel the drugs in his system, trying to knock him out but his metabolism was fighting back. Shuri was pressing on the beads on her wrist, hopefully sending out a distress signal or something. When she was done she snaked her arm underneath his shoulder, helping him walk forward. He could barely stand up straight, and was putting most of his weight on her. 

They were making slow progress when Peters spidey sense spiked again. He looked up to see a man dressed in all black standing on the roof of the building beside them. He was aiming a gun at Shuris chest. 

Peter stepped in front of Shuri, back towards the enemy, his brain too sluggish to think of anything else to do. He took the dart in his shoulder. He knees gave out and he crumpled forwards into Shuris arms, his vision fading significantly. She wrapped her arms around him before he collapsed, and lowered him down to the ground. 

He closed his eyes, he was so tired. He could hear Shuri calling his name beside him, she sounded like he was under water.

She sounded scared. 

He couldn’t leave her alone.

He fought to open his eyes again. He managed to crack them into slits just in time to witness Shuri get hit with a dart also. She called his name one more time before slumping sideways onto the ground. She was out in seconds.

He watched barely conscious, as a man in all black walked up to Shuri and tore off her kimoyo beads tossing it away, unable to destroy the vibranium. He heard a van pull up behind him and watched through blurry eyes as the man picked Shuri up and carried her away. 

Peter had lost almost all control of his body, the most he could do was twitch his fingers as he witnessed his friends kidnapping. He heard someone walk over to him before stopping.

“What the fuck?” the mans voice was so far away. “Hey, Mag, this one’s still awake and I hit him twice.” He could hear a lighter set of feet walk over to him. Slender fingers grabbed his chin and turned his head over. Peter could barely make out the outline of a woman crouching beside him. She hummed.

“Maybe he’s worth more than we thought.” She took the gun out of the man's hands who was standing beside her. With one swift movement she turned it around and brought it down across Peters temple knocking him out cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whump coming, stay tuned!


	3. regarding our guests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He’s awake. Get down here.” He heard her say, and Shuri let out a whimper. He raised his head again halfway to see the woman toss a phone onto the table as she slid off of it. She began to make her way towards him slowly. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are really gettin good now

Awareness came to him slowly.

The drugs were still in his system, leaving him weak, and exhausted.

He could feel bonds around his wrists and ankles, tied tightly so his hands and feet were tingly. The side of his face felt sticky, and brittle, and there was a dull pain in his head. 

He opened his eyes to see his arms tied to the armrests of a wooden chair with rope. He couldn’t see his ankles but he assumed they were tied to the chair as well. He weakly raised his head. 

Shuri was seated a couple of feet directly across from him so they were facing each other, and was in the same predicament. She was already awake and was watching him with pleading eyes, crying silently. She also had a piece of tape over her mouth. Peter wondered why he didn’t have one. 

His eyes roamed around the room they were in, everything was still a bit fuzzy but he could tell that they were in a damp, cement room, with no windows. To the left of him was a staircase, also made out of cement with a door at the top. There was a spotlight, and a camera set up on a large tripod a few feet away from him but centered in between his and Shuri’s chairs. 

A table occupied the corner closest to him, and a woman sat on top of it. Her stance was casual while still maintaining good posture. She could have been a dancer in a past life. Her hair was cut so short Peter mistook her for a man at first, but her slim body figure told him otherwise. Her outfit was all black, and her skin was light. She looked at him with an expressionless face, but her gaze was curious and calculating. 

He could only keep eye contact for a couple of seconds before his head became too heavy for his neck to support any longer, and he let it loll forward onto his chest. 

“He’s awake. Get down here.” He heard her say, and Shuri let out a whimper. He raised his head again halfway to see the woman toss a phone onto the table as she slid off of it. She began to make her way towards him slowly. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

 

As CEO of Stark Industries Pepper had been asked to come in on the last day to finish with the negotiations. Tony sat patiently to the side of the room as everything was wrapping up at last. It had been a long few days but everybody had been cooperative and things were running smoothly. The Wakandans would be leaving in the morning, then he could finally spend time with Peter. 

Pepper was going over the final copy of the new science institution for everybody when all of the kimoyo beads in the room started to glow purple. 

It took everyone a couple of seconds to register what was happening but when they did, chaos erupted on the Wakandan side of the room. They all started talking at once in a panic, and some began to push out of their seats in a frenzy. The two Dora Milaje members standing guard by the door seemed to be the only ones remaining calm and collected. Tony, Pepper, and the other Stark Industries employees were left sitting in confusion. 

“Tony what’s going on?” Pepper whispered in his ear.

“I have no idea.” He got up from his seat and went over to a Wakandan scientist he had taken a liking too. The man in question was currently speaking in rapid Wakandan to a colleague of his. He tapped his shoulder, and he spun around. “What’s wrong?”

“We have just received a distress call from our princess.” Tony took a step back in shock.

“Is she ok?” was the first thing that came to his mind.

“We do not know, she is not responding to any questions.” If the girl was anything like Peter (which she was) then she’s a prankster.

“Are you sure she’s not just playing around?” The scientist glared at him in frustration.

“The signal she sent out was highly elaborate, stressing the fact that she is in danger and in immediate need of assistance. She would not just do this for a joke, or on accident.” He turned back around to his colleague. 

Tony’s blood ran cold, Peter was with her. If Shuri was in trouble, then so was Peter. He went back over to where Pepper was seated, and tried calling Peters phone. There was no answer, he just got sent straight to voicemail. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, send me the location of Peter's cell phone.” he pulled out his phone, and looked up to the ceiling awaiting a response. None came. “F.R.I.D.A.Y?” he tried again, but there was still no response from the AI. He looked over at Pepper to see if she was witnessing the same thing. Judging by the look of astonishment on her face, she was.

He turned on his phone to run a quick diagnostic check, and found that the AI had been disabled via his own computer systems. He didn’t have time to speculate about it before a voice cut through all the commotion. He looked up from his phone to see the two Dora Milaje standing in the center of the room.

“We have completed our trace for the princesses kimoyo beads and have received a location. We ask all of you to stay calm, and in the building as we conduct our search, we cannot risk any more danger onto anyone else.” The taller of the two said. 

Tony was by their side in an instant.

“I’m coming with you.” They merely looked at him with mild amusement. “I don’t care what you think, my kid could be hurt, so I am fucking coming with you.” They shared a look before the taller one spoke again.

“We are not obliged to protect you, so you may come if you wish.” He nodded his head.

“Like you could have stopped me anyways.” He mumbled under his breath as he walked out of the room to put on an ironman suit. 

 

Flying in the ironman suit without the chatter of F.R.I.D.A.Y, was eerily quiet. He didn’t care, he could figure out what was wrong with her later. He just wanted to find Peter, alive and ok.

He didn’t find Peter at all.

The trio found the kimoyo beads, but no teenagers. 

Shuri’s beads had been thrown into a dumpster in a back alley, two blocks away from the tower. There was no signs of any struggle or any evidence that even suggested that anyone had been there for days, except the fact that all the security cameras covering the area had been shot out. 

They searched all around the area for the kids but they were just gone. 

Tony didn’t know what to think. Peter couldn’t be kidnapped, he was just an innocent kid. Unless someone figured out his secret identity? That was a possibility. But Shuri had been taken as well. 

There was only one reason for this. 

Someone wanted money.

A lot of money.

 

The Dora Milaje made the decision to send the rest of the Wakandan delegates back home for their own protection, and the royal family had been notified of the situation. T’challa had wanted to come to America straight away, but his duties required him to stay in his country. He would send more spies over to help with the search instead and requested updates every couple of hours. They had also made a mutual decision not to involve the media in this, as they weren’t sure what they were dealing with and didn’t want any unnecessary casualties. 

Tony made the decision not to call aunt May until he had more information to give her other than just “your nephew is missing”. Instead he went to work on getting F.R.I.D.A.Y back up, and working again. 

He managed to get her systems back up without many issues. He was mostly worried about how she even got disabled in the first place. Someone had either hacked into his systems, which would require genius level skills, or they had a spy in their midst. That thought didn’t sit well in his stomach. 

These people knew what they were doing.

When F.R.I.D.A.Ys systems were fully restored he received an email on his computer from an unknown source. He felt his heart stop for a solid second. 

It was labelled _regarding our guests_.

Not for the first time in his life, Tony was scared.

He notified the Dora Milaje about what he had been sent, and they came to observe the video with him. Pepper came too after F.R.I.D.A.Y told her what was going on. Tony didn’t want her to see whatever they had been sent, but he was thankful for the comfort she gave him.

He opened the file and watched the video.

A young woman stood in the center of the frame. She looked like she was barely in her twenties. She was tall and slender, dressed in all black and had short, dark hair and cold grey eyes. 

She stood in between the kids, who were both tied down tightly to chairs facing each other and perpendicular to the camera. Shuri was awake and staring at the camera, she had tear tracks on her face but a look of defiance in her eyes, there was also a piece of tape over her mouth. 

Tony clenched his fists in anger at the sight of Peter. 

His kids head was hanging downwards, resting on his chest as if it took too much energy to hold it upright. He seemed to be awake, but barely. His head would bob upwards every couple of seconds in an attempt to look up, but it would quickly drop back down. He must have been drugged with some sort of sedative that was making him so weak. There was also a trail of dried blood down his face. That bitch must have hit him.

He figured that she also didn’t know that he was Spiderman, otherwise they would have restrained him with something a lot stronger than rope, and a wooden chair.

 _”Hello, Tony Stark and T’challa son of T’chaka.”_ She spoke with a voice that was calm, and cool, her face was neutral. _”Let’s get straight to the point here. We have have something you want…”_ She snapped her fingers and pointed at Peter. A man came from off screen, also dressed in all black, but had a mask on too. He grabbed Peter from behind by his hair and yanked his head upright so Tony could see his face better. Peter didn’t struggle. _”... and you, have something we want.”_

The Dora Milaje started speaking to each other in hushed tones and Pepper gripped his hand tightly.

 _“If we have your attention, I would like to introduce myself. I’m Magda, and I am the current leader of the Yellow Snakes. We are an extensive terrorist organization, that has been underground for years. Now, we are rising to the top.”_ Shit. This was not good news. _“you are probably wondering what our demands are, i’ll tell you.”_ She pointed at Shuri first, then to Peter. _“Fifty million for the princess, and Thirty million for the intern Stark.”_

Tony felt the Wakandans beside him tense up at the ransom demands, but he let out a small sigh of relief. Magda didn’t know that Peter was Spiderman, she had called him his intern. Tony was suddenly hit with a wave of stress, if she didn’t know yet then she would most likely find out soon. He knows that Peter doesn’t like sitting still for long periods of time, as soon as those drugs wear off he’ll be trying to escape.

_“since we aren’t very patient, we will add five million dollars onto our demands every 24 hours, and your kids will face the consequences. Here’s a taste of what we will do.”_ She reached out her hand and someone off screen tossed her a sledge hammer, the action vaguely reminding him of Thor and Mjolnir. She caught it with ease, and in one fluent motion, she brought it above her head and swung it down hard on Shuri’s forearm eliciting a sickening crunch, and a muffled scream. 

Pepper gasped beside him. Now it was his turn to hold her hand. 

The sound of bones breaking seemed to help Peter fight back against the drugs in his system because he let out a “no!” and began to try and wrench his head out of the masked man’s grasp. The man tilted his head back even farther and had to place both of his hands on the side of Peters head to hold him still. 

Magda tossed the sledge hammer off to the side with a clatter. She looked bored and Tony couldn’t tell if she was enjoying this or hated it. She pulled a knife out of her boot and pointed it at Peter who was struggling even harder at the sight of his friend in pain. 

_“He’s next. You have 24 hours.”_

Tony didn’t know what to do. 

A thought came to his mind. 

A thought that took the form of Steve Rogers and a lousy flip phone that was sitting on his desk upstairs. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I based Magda's look off of my own lmao i'm so original
> 
> except I had to up her age cause i'm only 16 hehe


	4. we have to try

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuri let out a whimper of pain from her seat across the room from him drawing his and Magda’s attention. There were more tears cascading down her face and Peter never wanted to punch someone so badly in his life for doing this to her. He couldn’t stand to see the people he cared about in pain, or anyone for that matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mainly Peters point of view, there'll be more of Tony in the next chapter
> 
> whoooo things are cookin in here now

Tony didn’t even consider paying the ransom, determined to find Peter on his own first.

When the video finished Tony immediately set to work on tracking the email back to whoever sent it. However, he was dealing with professionals and they had managed to divert his attempts at tracing them to a warehouse in Russia. The woman on the video was obviously American, unless she was Russian and just very good at American accents. 

The video was also time stamped. It had only been recorded 20 minutes ago, and Shuri’s distress signal was received almost six hours ago. There was no way that they were in Russia by now. 

He needed someone to check out the warehouse still, to see if anyone was there. Magda said that their organization was extensive… but to what point? She could have people stationed in Russia, but he had no one to send to check it out. He couldn’t afford to go himself incase something else happened here. 

He needed his team back. 

The thought of using that flip phone was becoming more appealing by the second, but he still inwardly cringed at the thought of having to call Steve for help after everything that had happened. Was he willing to push aside their differences if it meant he had a better chance at saving his kid?

Hell yes.

 

When Magda was done speaking, the man behind the camera ended the video, and removed the camera from its tripod tucking it under his arm and carrying it up the stairs. The person behind him holding his head let it go with a harsh shove forward. 

Peter was getting more of his strength back every minute, and was strong enough to hold up his head again. He turned his head to glare at the large man in a mask walking away from him towards a different woman, she had a mask on too. 

He could still feel the drugs in his system but the boost of adrenaline was making it fade quicker. As soon as it wore off he could break the ropes off of himself and Shuri easily, then he could get them out of there. He wasn’t sure about how well that would work out though, Magda said that they were a large group, but how large? Shuri also definitely had a broken arm, and Peter didn’t have his web shooters or his suit. Magda had also called him an intern meaning she didn’t know about Spiderman… did he really want to risk his identity? 

Peter figured he had to try.

Shuri let out a whimper of pain from her seat across the room from him drawing his and Magda’s attention. There were more tears cascading down her face and Peter never wanted to punch someone so badly in his life for doing this to her. He couldn’t stand to see the people he cared about in pain, or anyone for that matter.

“Are we done mouthing off now, your majesty?” Magda asked as she casually walked over to Shuri. Peter tugged on his restraints in agitation, but he had to hold back. He had to wait until the drugs were out of his system if he wanted a chance at escape. 

“Don’t touch her” He growled out instead and Magda turned to look at him in mild surprise, raising her hands in mock surrender. 

“Relax kid, before you hurt yourself.” She suddenly sounded like she actually cared about his well being, as if she didn’t just shatter Shuri’s forearm with a sledgehammer. She reached down and pulled the piece of tape off Shuri’s mouth. 

Shuri took in a large shaky breath of air. She looked like she was about to cuss at her, and Peter knew that she would only get punished for that.

“So, what kind of stupid-ass name is the yellow snakes?” That got her attention, and she pivoted around to meet his gaze. She looked him in interest and opened her mouth to speak when another feminine voice from behind him cut her off. 

“I can take care of him for you Mag…” He could feel bony fingers run along the back of his shoulders, and up the back of his neck. “... make him obedient.” the voice said into his ear, and he flinched away from the woman's touch, straining his neck to see who was touching him. It was the masked woman.

“Peter!” Shuri yelled, pain fuelling her anger. “Get your hands off him!”

He felt the woman nip at his ear, and he shuddered involuntarily. She just giggled at his discomfort. 

“Get your hands off him Jayla.” the hands were abruptly gone, and he heard the sound of someone being slammed against the wall behind him. “I don’t need you spoiling my products.” It was Magda.

“I don’t know what you mean…” The older woman, Jayla huffed out.

“Everyone knows you’re a fucking pedophile, and you know I don’t operate like that. Touch him again, and you’re out.” She snarled quietly, but Peter still heard. One last shove was given before she released her and began making her way to the stairs. “Jayla, Michael, you’re with me.” she said harshly. The man who had taken the camera away opened the door for them. “Jones, you have the first watch.” He made his way down the stairs, and took a seat on the table in the corner, gun in his grasp.

“Yes ma'am.”

Peter dared not speak to Shuri until the drugs were completely out of his system. He didn’t want to risk pissing the man off and having him shoot either one of them again. If that happened he would have to wait even longer to try to escape. 

After 20 minutes of stressful silence Peter was sure that he was back to normal. He needed to get the guard closer to him when he broke the restraints so he could get the gun off of him. Then he could take him out, get Shuri, and they could make their way out of wherever they were.

“Hey mister!” he called out to the guard. The masked man “Jones” Magda had called him, didn’t budge from the table. He just looked at Peter in mild annoyance.

“Peter, don’t.” Shuri said to him in a hushed voice. He ignored her for the time being.

“Hey, I need to tell you something _really_ important.” He tried again.

“Shut, it kid.” Jones gravelly voice finally spoke up.

“Woah, your voice is a lot deeper than I imagined it wou-” 

“I said. Shut. It.” He pointed the dart gun at Peter menacingly. Peter swallowed thickly, and Shuri gave him a look of warning.

“I need to go to the bathroom.” Jones stood up, and Peter felt a small spark of hope in his chest as he walked over to him instead of just shooting him outright. He tried his best to look scared as the masked man came to a stop in front of his chair and leaned forward so they were at eye level. 

“Well, maybe you shou-” Peter wasn’t going to miss his shot. He swung his right leg upwards as hard as he could, snapping the leg of the chair clean off, and landing a foot right in Jones’s dick. 

Peter rolled as his chair tipped over to the side, breaking off an armrest and the other leg in the process. Jones reeled back in pain but quickly recovered taking aim at Peters chest with his gun. Peter held up the seat of the chair in front of him like a shield, as Jones pulled the trigger, three darts embedding themselves in the wood. 

When he was done, Peter promptly swung his arm that was still connected to the armrest and the rest of the chair, the wood slapping Jones in the face and knocking him sideways. As the man was disoriented Peter shoved him backwards as hard as he could sending him flying backwards, narrowly missing Shuri, and dropping his gun at Peter's feet. 

Peter picked up his gun and shot him in the thigh as he was getting back up. Jones crumpled to the ground almost instantly, unconscious. 

Peter lowered the gun slowly, wary that he might not be completely out yet, but Jones didn’t move a muscle. He let out a brief sigh of relief before he set to work on untying the broken pieces of chair off his limbs. When he was done he went straight to Shuri’s side who was staring at him with shock.

“Hey.” He simply said as he began untying her limbs from her chair, mindful of her arm. She just started at him with wide eyes, mouth gaping.

“What. The. Fuck.” Peter just laughed softly, as he helped her stand up. “Where did that come from?” She hissed as she had to move her broken arm. 

“Did you forget, i’m basically an avenger…” He looked at Shuri’s arm with a grimace, it looked painful. Her forearm was swollen hugely, and it was purple and blue. “Are you ok? That looks painful.”

“I will be alright, there is nothing we can do about it right now though, so we should focus on escaping.” He nodded, she was right they had to get out of there. 

Shuri stayed behind Peter as he was the only one that could use the gun, as they made their way up the cement steps and to the door. Peter jiggled the handle as softly as he could and let out a frustrated groan.

“It’s locked.” Shuri pushed past him, already crouching to get eye level with the mechanical lock on the door.

“Let me see…” There was a soft light, and then the door popped open with a click. “...there” she whispered. Now it was Peter's turn to stand in surprise.

“How did you do that?” He asked in awe.

“You’re not the only one with tricks up their sleeve.” She said looking up at him with a smirk. “We weave vibranium into our clothes. I simply used the small system in my shirt to hack the lock. You people are so primitive.” Peter just smiled faintly as he stepped out in front of her into another windowless cement room, gun at the ready. 

There was a man sitting in a chair at a table in the center of the room. Peter froze momentarily before realizing that he was asleep. He shot a dart in his neck just to be safe. 

His spidey senses had been one constant hum in the base of his skull since he woke up here. He wasn’t so sure that he could rely on them, he was going to have to use his other senses.

There was another set of stairs to his right, this time there was no door at the top and they were much longer. They must be some place underground he thought. They had both made it halfway up the steps when Peters enhanced hearing picked up voices from above. He stopped and placed a hand out signalling Shuri to stop also.

“What is it Peter?” She whispered.

“I can hear people.” Someone walked by the top of the staircase and the teens flattened themselves against the wall. Luckily they weren’t noticed.

“How many, do you think?” Shuri asked when the coast was clear. Peter took a few more tentative steps up the stairs, picking up more voices.

“I don’t know, I can’t tell… a lot.” He looked back at Shuri, eyes full of worry and determination.

“We have to try.” Peter nodded his agreement. They snuck up the rest of the stairs and Peter carefully poked his head out of the doorway, when the voices had quieted. 

There were pipes everywhere. Hanging low from the ceiling, covering the ceiling, sticking out from walls, and sprouting from the floor. Whatever wasn’t covered in pipes was covered in metal or cement. They must be inside an old factory of some sort. 

Peter looked to see where the voices were coming from, down the corridor to his left there was a faint yellow light. He told Shuri to stay where she was as he went to check it out. 

He crouched down at the corner of the hallway, and peaked his head around the corner. There was another table set up with a bunch of computers on it, and 5 people seated or standing around it as they all conversed with each other. Peter also recognised his phone on the table beside one of the computers. 

Some of the people had the dart guns that Peter was currently sporting, but none of them were wearing masks. He didn’t recognize any of the People standing around, and Magda was nowhere in sight. There was also no exit in sight so he turned back around to go get Shuri. 

She looked relieved to see him and he quietly lead her down the other side of the hallway. It split off into two ways, and Peter had no idea which way to go.

“Peter look.” Shuri pointed at the path to their right, there was a staircase at the end of the tunnel.

“Upwards and Onwards.” Two more people dressed in black turned around the corner from the path on the left, they halted at the sight of their missing prisoners. “Shit.” One of them raised their gun at them and started towards them, the other stayed behind calling for assistance. “Go, i’m right behind you.” He gently pushed Shuri towards the stairs, taking aim with his own gun, and firing. 

He hit the woman coming towards him before she could take her shot, she was too far away to aim properly but Peter wasn’t. He took aim at the other guard and fired but nothing came out. 

He was out of ammo.

He threw his empty gun at the man with all his might, before turning and sprinting to the staircase where Shuri was waiting for him, he didn’t wait to see if he hit anything. They ran up the staircase together and reached another hallway at the top of those stairs. 

They could hear shouts from all directions so Peter grabbed ahold of Shuri’s good arm and pulled her down the hallway as fast as he could. He had no idea what he was doing, or where he was going anymore. His brain was just screaming at him to just GET OUT.

Guards came out from around the corner, and from up the stairs behind them, surrounding them. 

Peter and Shuri stood back to back in a fighting stance, ready to protect each other.

The group of guards in front of Peter parted ways to let Magda through. She walked up to him and sighed, pointing a police taser at him and squeezing the trigger. 

The last thing he saw was a small cord extending towards him before his world was exploding in pain. He let himself crumple to the ground with a scream, his body convulsed and he felt like his bones were on fire. 

He gave into the arms of blissful darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kind of a cliffhanger sorry... It was either that or a giant chapter
> 
> I also don't know when I will be able to update again, i'm going to my cottage tomorrow and there's no wifi *cries*
> 
> Aaaaand then i'm driving up to Toronto for a week soooooo... haha sorry, i'll make it up to you I promise!


	5. Interesting Abilities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He leaned back in his chair, away from his computer and brought a weary hand down his face. Pepper had made him get a few hours of sleep but it did nothing to combat the stress and anxiety he was currently swimming in. 
> 
> He had stumbled across a mystery he didn’t want to find the answers too. He just wanted his kid back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay i'm finally home and sunburnt lol

He woke up back in the same room.

He tried to shift his sore body but he found he couldn’t move an inch. He was in a new chair, this time made out of metal. He also was restrained more securely with black straps that went across his chest in addition to his wrists and ankles. 

He also felt weaker than before, and his head was more cloudy. Maybe they hit him with another dart or… his eyes trailed along the tube in his arm and up to the IV stand complete with a roller clamp to adjust the flow, and a drop chamber. He watched will dull interest as a clear liquid dripped into the tube, and flowed into his body against his will. 

“Fascinating.” Peter turned his head to look at her. Magda was sitting in Shuris chair across from him and Shuri was nowhere in sight. She had a leg up on the armrest and her body was leaning back against the other side, at ease. She was looking at him with an expression of mild interest but her eyes were hungry, and dangerous. Peter felt like he was being dissected by her gaze. 

“What is?” he asked with some difficulty.

“You are.” She shifted her body so she was sitting properly in the chair, and leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees. 

“What did you do with Shuri?”

“Oh the princess? She’s fine for now. You should be more worried about yourself, Mr. Parker.” She bent over and picked up the leg of the chair, that had broken off his old one during his escape attempt. She looked at the broken end, intrigued. “You’re different, aren’t you…” She glanced back up to meet his gaze.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said with as much confidence as he could muster. 

“Cut the bullshit.” She stood up out of her chair, throwing the wood to the side angrily. Peter would have jumped, startled, but he was restrained too tightly. “You’re different. You’re one of those freaky enhanced people or some shit. That’s why Stark is so interested in you.” She took a step towards him, Peter’s spider sense was warning him through the drugs hindering his senses. “You’re not an intern, that’s just a cover story isn’t it.” she coaxed, calmness creeping back into her composure. It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.

“I-” Peter tried to come up with another excuse.

“Don’t even start.” she cut him off. “It took two shots of sedatives to take you down to get you here, and I still had to use blunt force to knock you out completely.” She began walking towards him at a slow pace. “Jones said he watched you break the chair as you were still tied to it. And you managed to send a grown man flying through the air 7 feet with your bare hands.” She came to a stop in front of him. “So, what? Super strength, fast metabolism, is that all?” She placed her hands on his restrained wrists and leaned forward so they were face to face, and looked directly into his eyes. “What are you?”

Peter tried his hardest to glare back at her but he was having trouble controlling his muscles. In addition, he realized that he was slightly losing feeling in some parts of his body. He also tried his best to not let the fear that was pooling in his stomach show on his face. She was getting scarily close with her accusations, and if he wasn’t careful she would figure out he was Spiderman. He didn’t know what would happen to him if his identity was revealed. 

She broke eye contact first, her stare travelling to the trail of dried blood on the side of his face from when she knocked him out. He saw her eyes widen in shock, before she brought a hand up to the side of his face pushing his hair away from his temple, and tilting his head to the side, pinning it to the back of his chair.

He knew what she was looking for. The cut that made him bleed when she struck him with the butt of her gun had repaired itself already.

“Interesting. That was barely more than 24 hours ago.” she marveled. “You heal.” 

“Everybody heals lady.” he slurred. She huffed out a short humourless laugh before removing her hand from his head. She reached over to the roller clamp and cut off the supply of drugs. 

“I want you to feel this…” She pulled out a knife from her boot, the same one she threatened him with in the first video. She brought it to his cheek and used it to turn his head towards the camera that had been set back up on the tripod. “... we have a little movie to make.”

 

The phone call with Steve was one of the most awkward, and difficult things Tony had ever had to do in his life. He was a stubborn man, but Peter needed him. He needed all of them, or as many as he could find.

Steve had answered.

And Steve was coming. He wouldn’t say where he was or what he was doing, but he had Nat, and Sam with him. Tony hoped that they would be enough to find his missing kid. 

Pepper had already called Rhodey for him and he was on his way too. They were all supposed to be at the tower within the next 5 hours. 

Tony hadn’t given them very much information about the situation, just that two teenagers had been kidnapped by a group of terrorists, one of them being the princess of Wakanda. He was planning on giving them more information when they arrived.

In the meantime, Tony set to work on running facial recognition scans on the woman in the video, and trying to figure out how his computer systems got hacked. 

After extensive research, F.R.I.D.A.Y eventually found a match for Magdas face. Her real name was Laura Franks. She was an orphan from Connecticut who was raised by her adoptive parents and had a somewhat happy childhood. She also had criminal record for a few petty thefts, and charges for drug possession, other than that she seemed like a normal teenager. 

However, the most interesting part about her history was that she was reported missing 5 years ago when she was 17, and found dead in a side ditch. Her case was never followed, anyone who ever tried ended up in the same boat. Tony discerned that this must have been when the Yellow Snakes intervened in her life. She was way too young to get involved in something like that. She was barely older than Peter when she must have joined.

He leaned back in his chair, away from his computer and brought a weary hand down his face. Pepper had made him get a few hours of sleep but it did nothing to combat the stress and anxiety he was currently swimming in. 

He had stumbled across a mystery he didn’t want to find the answers too. He just wanted his kid back. 

He checked his watch.

It had been almost 24 hours since he received the last video, and he hadn’t made any attempt at communication with them. He didn’t know if he could make himself watch the next one, knowing that it would be his fault that Peter would be scared and in pain because he didn’t pay their demands. 

But he had to wait for Steve. 

If they were dealing with a terrorist organization then getting Peter and Shuri back would be the least of their problems. If they had a chance to take them down before they grew even more they could potentially save many lives in the future. 

There was no way that he would give them money just so they could hurt more innocent people. He hoped the Wakandans had the same state of mind. 

Tony wasn’t so sure about how much longer he could keep believing that though. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he really wasn’t willing to sacrifice Peter for anything. That kid meant way too much to him.

Steve better hurry the hell up if he wanted to find Peter in one piece before it came to paying the ransoms. 

He shivered at the thought of Peter hating him afterwards because of this. Afterall, they had targeted him because they knew that Peter was close to him. 

He blanched at the thought of finding Peter too late. Holding off on paying them until they finally just gave up and killed him. 

Tony seeing his lifeless body, unmoving on the floor.

“Tony.”

Tony holding his kid, his skin cold against his own. Eyes open, staring at nothing, straight through him.

“Tony?” Someone spun his chair around and placed their hands on his shoulders startling him out of his thoughts. He jumped and latched onto them with his own. His eyes swept along the limbs extended towards him until they settled on a face.

Rhodey.

“Are you ok?” Tony inhaled. He hadn’t noticed he wasn’t breathing.

“Yeah, i’m fine.” He spun his chair back around to face the computer again. Anticipating the next email. A hand went up to rub his chest, his heart was beating way too fast but he could feel himself starting to calm down again. Rhodey sighed and leaned his back against Tony's computer desk.

“Why don’t I believe you?” Tony just looked up at him in disbelief.

“If you didn’t like my answer then why the fuck did you ask? Jesus, i’m barely keeping it together right now, is that what you want to hear?” He snapped, then placed his head in his hands, for what felt like the millionth time. Why was he getting upset with Rhodey now? He was just trying to help. Rhodey placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“It’s alright Tones, I don’t know Peter very well but I know how much he means to you.” Tony looked back up at him. “I’m gonna do whatever it takes to help get him back to you.” He managed a weak smile at his friends comforting words. 

He was about to give Rhodey his thanks when his computer received a new notification. 

It was an email, from the same unknown source as last time. This time labeled: _The Intern_

Tony dry swallowed and visibly paled. This one was for him. Rhodey sensed his friends fear and looked at the computer screen too.

“What is it?” he questioned.

“A video of Peter…” the two made eye contact. “... from the terrorists.”

“We have to watch it.” Tony nodded his head, numbly. “They may have something important to say, they might not even touch Peter.”

“I know.” he breathed. He clicked on the video. 

Peter was sitting in a restraint chair this time, and was connected to an IV full of a clear liquid. There were chunks of wood strewn around on the floor and pieces of rope lying about. Tony recognised the chunks of wood to be pieces of a chair.

“Oh Peter, you idiot.” he murmured quietly as he knew that attempting escape wouldn’t pass by without punishment. Shuri’s chair was empty and Tony hoped that she was alright. 

Magda stepped in the frame holding the same knife that she had pulled out in the last video. She walked to a position where she was beside Peter but was still facing the camera. She grabbed a fistfull of his hair with her free hand and turned his head so he was looking at the camera, placing the knife on his cheek bone.

 _”Tony Stark. This one is for you.”_ she put pressure on the knife against Peters face. She withdrew after small beads of blood squeezed their way through the thin cut on his cheek. Peter slightly winced at the fleeting pain. 

It was a small cut, but Tony still wanted the bitch dead for it. 

_”Don’t give her what she wants Mr. Stark!”_ Peter shouted towards the camera. Magda simply stepped away from him and waved someone over with her free hand. Another masked man entered the frame and stood behind Peter's chair again, this time placing a large hand over Peters mouth. Magda strolled closer to the camera.

 _"You didn’t respond back to the last video in any way, which means the price on his head goes up 5 million dollars. You’re now at 35 million dollars, and we get to have some fun.”_ This was the part that Tony didn’t want to see. _”But we don’t mind spending time with Peter, because he’s a very special boy, isn’t he Stark. That’s why you like him so much, huh? Because he has powers?”_

Shit. She found out about his abilities… did she know about Spiderman?

 _”We like them too. Especially the fact that…”_ she walked backwards and gestured to Peters face, and the cut she just made which was now already a faint red line. _”... he heals. So, I could do that again, and again if I wanted to but I won’t, because we?”_ She opened her arms wide, indicating that there was more people in the room. _“We’re artists. And we’re not about to let a perfect canvas go to waste.”_

“Tony what does she mean?” Rhodey asked beside him, but he was too transfixed on what was happening in the video to answer. 

Magda had nodded her head to someone else off camera, and another woman entered the frame, wearing a mask. She passed the new woman the knife and whispered something in her ear before stepping off camera. 

The new woman slid her legs underneath Peters armrests so she was straddling him. She held the knife as if it was a pen in one hand and used the other to hold Peters shoulder down as she began to carve into his skin. 

The woman started at his shoulder and made her way all the way across Peters collarbone and down his arm cutting, and slicing him open in crude designs as Peter struggled in his restraints and screamed. The man behind him just held his head still as the woman worked.

When she was finished Peters arm was a bloody mess. It looked like a horrific sleeve tattoo. Blood was dripping off of him steadily and onto the floor creating a puddle underneath him, his face was extremely pale. He was left panting and crying in his restraints, and Tony's heart broke at the sight. 

Magda stepped back into the frame and walked up to the camera, the same uninterested look on her face.

_”35 million dollars Stark. You have 24 hours.”_

The video ended and the two friends sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to register what they just watched.

“Tones, what did she mean Peter’s special?” Rhodey gained his voice back first.

“Peter is Spiderman.”

 

When the video was over the woman sitting on him didn’t get off. The man let go and walked away but she just cradled his face in her hands, brushing away his tears.

“Oh baby, I know it hurts.” she purred in his ear.

“Jayla, get the fuck off.” Jayla sighed before she climbed off his lap. She passed the bloody knife back to Magda and went back up the stairs with the other man.

Magda walked over to him and released the clamp on his IV without saying a word. With one last pitying look in his direction she turned and went back up the stairs as well, shutting the lights off as she went. 

He was left alone, and in darkness.

He sagged in relief as he felt the drugs sweep the pain away. 

He closed his eyes.

He wanted to go home.

It wasn’t long before the hallucinations started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if your name is Laura Franks and you're reading this, you've got a pretty great name


	6. I want to go home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He wanted so many things.
> 
> But he was alone.
> 
> The darkness he was sitting in surrounded him. It was suffocating, and Peter cried harder out of fear, and his own self pity. He closed his eyes against it, but it didn’t help. It was dark with his eyes shut too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK
> 
> i'm so sorry for the wait though!  
> I had a really great time in Toronto at my acting program, but it feels great to be back to writing so wahoo
> 
> hope this is worth it lmao

Peter felt numb.

He tried to stretch his fingers, but it was difficult. Like there was a weight on his body that was pressing him down, making it hard to move. 

He looked down at his arm. The one that was used as a gruesome art project. The bleeding had mostly stopped, and some of the shallower incisions had already scabbed over. 

He didn’t feel any pain, the drugs took care of that.

He didn’t feel anything. 

He felt like he wasn’t attached to his own body. Like he was floating. 

Peter wasn’t home right now. 

That was funny, he thought. He really wasn’t home right now. 

He wanted to be.

He wanted to be with May, seated on their couch in their apartment watching cheesy sitcoms, while he told her about his day and she laughed at his funny stories. He wanted to taste her terrible cooking, and listen to her complain about work, and tell him about how much she loved him. Did she even know he was gone?

His body let the tears fall without his consent. He didn’t have any control anymore, and he hated it. 

He wanted to feel the warmth of Tonys arm around his shoulders again. The smell of metal, and oil, and cologne as he stood beside his father in the workshop. He wanted to see Tony's smile as he made him proud. He wanted to see the eyes that were too often filled with sadness and regret, ignite with joy and happiness at the comfort of his presence. 

He wanted so many things.

But he was alone.

The darkness he was sitting in surrounded him. It was suffocating, and Peter cried harder out of fear, and his own self pity. He closed his eyes against it, but it didn’t help. It was dark with his eyes shut too. 

He wanted to be brave, but he was just a kid.

“Peter?” The voice was soothing against his dark thoughts and he meekly opened his eyes, looking towards the voice.

“Mom?” He whispered, hesitant. She looked exactly how he remembered her. She was beautiful, and though there was no light in the room she seemed as if she was glowing. Like she was radiating, warm, gentle light, like an angel. She sat across from him in Shuri’s chair, a soft smile on her lips.

“Yes, it’s me.” She laughed lightly. Her smile did nothing to comfort him, instead filling him with a deeper sadness. He knew she couldn’t be real, she had died when he was a child. 

“You were so beautiful.” He said around the knot in his throat, more tears threatening to spill.

“And I still am aren’t I, Peter?” She grinned again, and leaned forward in her chair.

“Of course you are.” he agreed with a sad smile, fresh tears painting his cheeks. “But you’re not real.” He choked out, small sobs beginning to build in his chest. 

“What do you mean?” she sombered suddenly.

“I’m so sorry…” he sniffled, as he cried. “...you’re dead.” She stood up from her seat, her warm glow steadily becoming colder. She began to walk towards him slowly, looking down at her hands, they were gradually fading away into the darkness that surrounded them. She looked back up at him with hatred in her eyes, dead eyes. 

“You did this to me.” she spat with venom in her voice. Her eyes turned dark and cold, as the skin around them cracked, and blackened. She reached a hand out towards him, walking towards him faster, with dangerous intent.

Peter closed his eyes as tightly as he could, flinching away from her touch as much as his restraints would allow. With one last scream of his name, she was gone. 

He sobbed alone in the darkness for a few minutes with his eyes still shut tight. He was too afraid of what he would see if he opened them again. 

The tears eventually stopped coming, but he still sat with his eyes closed. He let himself float away again, and let his mind go blank. 

The numbness was better than the sorrow.

 

Hands were on his face, and fingers were peeling his eyelids back. He didn’t protest, he couldn’t if he tried. 

After the person pulled his eyes open, he held them there on his own. The lights were back on in the room and May hovered over him. Her hands were on his wrists and she was leaning forwards, looking at his eyes.

“May?” he asked tenderly, out of surprise. If she was there then he could go home. She looked away from him and up towards the top of the stairs.

“It’s working.” She looked back at him with an expressionless gaze, and reached over to the side of his chair to fiddle with something. Peter couldn’t take his eyes off her, he couldn’t believe that she was there.

“May, w-what? H-how did you find me?” he gasped. She just let out a soft snort, and looked down at him in amusement. Another voice spoke up, the speaker standing out of his line of sight but he didn’t care, he only had eyes for his aunt. 

“Yeah, give him an hour and we can start.” She released his wrists and stood up, turning to the side slightly. A half empty water bottle was placed in her hands and she unscrewed the cap, turning back to face him. 

Peter realized his throat was itching from the dryness. He couldn’t remember the last time he had drank, or eaten anything. 

May tilted his head back for him by lifting his chin, and held the bottle to his lips, pouring it down his throat slowly, so he wouldn’t choke. He drank as greedily as he could, his body's natural instinct swallowing for him as he still couldn’t control his body. 

When the bottle was empty she tossed it carelessly to the side. She stepped away from him releasing his head from her hold, and he let it drop back onto his chest before gingerly raising it back up again. 

“Can I go home now?” he pleaded, eyes drooping closed. He was so tired.

“Why? Is it not comfy enough for you in that chair?” She asked with a fake pout. He shook his head, more tears wetting his eyes. Was May not going to take him home?

She sat down in Shuri’s chair across from him, and placed a leg up on the armrest. The position was so familiar, but so _not_ May. 

Peters head was spinning even though he was sitting down. His brain had the sickening realization that he was not talking to his aunt. He closed his eyes and shook his head in an attempt to clear his racing thoughts.

“What did you do to me?” he whimpered. “not-May” just laughed humorlessly and another person called to her. He heard her get up from her seat and walk towards the stairs before stopping.

“We’ll be back soon.” He opened his eyes and raised his head just in time to see her turn off the lights again. The door slammed shut a moment afterwards and Peter was plunged into darkness.

Again. 

 

Steve showed up roughly 2 hours after Tony watched the second video.

Tony had a lot of explaining to do regarding one particular teenager. He decided to come clean about Peters identity, he didn’t want to have to hide secrets anymore. 

“He’s what?” Steve had the same reaction as Rhodey; shock, and disbelief.

“And how old is he again?” Sam asked from beside Steve. Natasha stood silently to the side, arms crossed over her chest. Tony wasn’t used to seeing her with blonde hair, or Steve with a beard for that matter. Sam seemed to be the only one unchanged. 

“He’s 15, and that’s not the issue here.” Rhodey spoke up for him, so he wouldn’t have to repeat himself again. He ran a hand down his face in frustration. Sam rolled his eyes in exasperation.

“He’s 15, and you let him run around in a spandex cos-” Sam started.

“Look, Tony’s been mentoring him for more than a year no-”

“Rhodey’s right.” Tony broke in, stepping in front of Rhodey so he could look Steve in the eye. “That’s not the issue here. The issue is he’s been fucking taken, and we need to get him back. We need to get them both back.” Tony continued before Steve could interject. “And, we are dealing with a dangerous new organization, that could become a bigger threat in the future if we don’t deal with it now.” 

“Like Hydra?” Steve raised an eyebrow.

“Like Hydra.” He confirmed and Steve nodded his head solemnly.

“What are the Wakandans doing about all of this?” Sam asked. Tony broke eye contact with Steve to look at the smaller man.

“They’re conducting their own searches, we agreed that if either party found something we would share it with the other. I haven’t found anything major, and I haven’t received anything from them, so i’m assuming they haven’t either.” 

“So what have you found?” All heads turned towards Natasha’s sly voice. “You said you haven’t found anything major. So what did you find?” 

Everyone looked back towards Tony as he asked F.R.I.D.A.Y to pull up the information on Magdas facial recognition scans, and the warehouse in Russia that was found during the location track. Natasha came forward to observe the information more closely. 

“Someone also managed to hack into my computer systems and disable F.R.I.D.A.Y until I was able to reboot her.” The group looked through all the information that had been collected so far.

“Is this everything?” Steve asked. Tony looked down at his shoes, he knew what he was asking for.

“No.” Rhodey said, with a glance in his direction. “There were videos sent as well.”

“You’ll probably want to see them.” Tony mumbled, biting his lip. “They sent them to my personal server.” 

“What? How did they do that?” Sam questioned.

“I don't know. I’m still working on it.” He looked back up to see confused stares darting around the room. “I’m thinking, that we-”

“You have a spy in your midst.” Natasha cut him off with a smirk. “I can help you with that.”

Collectively, they decided that Sam and Steve should take a quinjet to Russia, to scope out the base in search of a lead. 

As the only genius, and super-spy around, Natasha and Tony were going to stay, and research how the computers got hacked. They also needed to identify if there was a spy with them or not.

Rhodey and Pepper were to negotiate with the Wakandans, and keep the media away from the situation. 

Tony released a small sigh of relief as he realized that progress was beginning to be made. 

His mind wandered to his kid. He hoped that those freaks hadn’t done anything else to him as they searched. In the last video Peter had been connected to an IV bag filled with a clear liquid, and Tony cringed at the image.

Peter didn’t deserve that. He was such a sweet kid, caught up in a horrible mess that was someone else's fault. 

It was his fault. Peter wouldn’t have been a target if he hadn’t been seen with him. Peter wouldn’t be tied to a chair, crying, and in pain if it wasn’t for him. If he hadn’t let Peter get so close to him he wouldn’t be in this situation. 

For the first time in a long time, Tony wished he hadn’t been born. 

He just wanted to be with Peter again. 

To see his smile. 

To see the way his curls bounced as he would run up to him after Happy dropped him off at the tower after school, already blabbering about what they had done that day in class. 

The feeling of his small body tucked away safely under his arm.

The scent of lavender air freshener May was always spraying in their apartment, clinging to his skin.

Tony wished he had played Mario Kart with him while he had the chance. 

He squared his shoulders, and wiped his eyes. They had work to do.

 

Peter woke up to a bucket of ice cold water being splashed against his body. 

He opened his eyes with a startled gasp to see Magda throwing a pail away, and a large man wearing a mask standing beside her, he was holding a cattle prod.

“Now Peter, i’m only going to ask this once.” She calmly stated with her arms crossed over her chest. “What are you?” 

Peter said nothing, shivering in his restraints from the freezing water soaked into his clothes. She sighed and turned away as the cattle prod came to life with a threatening hum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> headcannon: Peter smells like lavender air freshener :)


	7. Ice cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His primal instincts were fueled by adrenaline and he lashed out an arm feeling it connect with a surface with a satisfying crunch and a howl of pain. As he thrashed he could hear voices start raising in tones around him and he opened his eyes only to see the underside of a dark fabric.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this feels short, it should have been with the last chapter but I didn't want to make it giant so I split in two :)

He felt the electricity course along his chest before the prod even touched him due to the water droplets resting on his damp skin. 

He tried to wriggle away from the electricity as much as he could, silently begging that he wouldn’t feel anything, that the drugs still had complete control over him.

He felt it. 

The man jabbed the cattle prod in between his ribs on his left side. His muscles spasmed uncontrollably underneath his soaked shirt, as his pain receptors exploded.

The masked man didn’t pull away until Peter let out an agonizing scream of pain. 

The result of being electrocuted, drenched in freezing water, and scared shitless left him trembling harshly in his restraints. He still tried to play a facade, covering up the terror and pain showing on his face with a glare that probably looked more like a wince. 

Magda turned back around when the man pulled back and walked up to face him. She placed her hands back on his restrained wrists, the position displaying her dominance of the situation. Her face was the same uninterested, calm expression, but her eyes were pure fury.

“What. Are. You?” She leaned in so close their noses were almost touching. 

“Thought y-you said you were only gonna a-ask once?” He managed to pull his face into a pain filled smirk, before she backhanded him. His head tuned to the side harshly as her hand connected with his face. 

She pushed away from him with a huff, and turned back around to face the masked man.

“Again.” She commanded him while looking back over her shoulder. He stepped towards him menacingly, cattle prod buzzing with energy. Peter fixed him with the dirtiest stare he could muster through his swollen eyes.

He hoped Shuri was having a better time than he was. 

 

Tony was about to take a break from his work when Pepper walked into the room that he and Natasha were working in. 

They had been working diligently for almost 5 hours, with almost nothing to show for it. Natasha had been carefully reviewing all the Stark Industries representatives backgrounds for any flaws or clues, and so far had found nothing. 

Tony had also made progress on figuring out how F.R.I.D.A.Y got disabled. He was able to find evidence that his systems hadn’t been hacked by an outsider. It had been an inside job, confirming their suspicions of having a spy with them. 

He leaned back in his chair to look at his fiance as she entered the room looking slightly flustered and panicked.

“Hey Pep…” He called to her, wary of the news she was bringing to him.

“Tony I…” She stopped in the center of the room and put a hand on the side of her face, trying to think of where to start. “It’s the Wakandans...”

“What’s wrong?” He got out of his chair and made his way over to her. Natasha paused her work, and turned her head to their direction looking curious.

“I guess they received a video about Shuri, and it was pretty bad. So now T’challa he…” Tony placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she took a deep breath. “He’s considering beginning negotiations with the terrorists.” She spilled, in a rush of one exhale.

“He what?! He can’t he-” Tony began to exclaim.

“I know! I said that to him, I tried to get him to change his mind but he wouldn’t listen.” Tony groaned, placing his face in his hands and pacing. “Tony, Shuri’s his sister! He can’t stand to see his family suffer.”

“Yeah? And Peter’s my kid.” He argued without hesitation. Pepper was abruptly speechless, and both women stared at him in surprise. He paused briefly also, realizing what he had just said, but still continuing. “It’s been two days, and we’re starting to make progress…” He trailed off, sitting back down in his chair with a frustrated sigh.

“Exactly Tony, it’s been two days and we’re just starting to make progress.” Natasha repeated from her chair to the side. “We’re the _Avengers_ , and we’re working with the most technologically advanced people in the world, and we are _just_ starting to make progress.”

“That’s really helpful Nat, thank you.” Tony grumbled under his breath, and Natasha rolled her eyes. “What are you trying to say then? That he’s got the right idea? That I should just get it over with and pay up too, because you know I can’t. No matter how badly I want to, I can’t.” 

“That’s not what I mean. I’m just trying to say that he’s not being unreasonable, he’s just doing what he thinks is right. You know how that feels.” She reasoned. “Besides, Pepper said that T’challa was only _considering_ negotiating with them. He hasn’t started anything yet.” 

“She’s right Tony.” Pepper consoled. “We still have time, we’ll get Peter back. We’ll get them both back.” She smiled softly, and some of the tension in Tony's shoulders was released.

Tony’s phone began to ring from beside his computer. 

It was Steve, so he picked up and put him on speaker.

“Tony?” His voice was slightly distorted due to the quality of Steves cell phone choice.

“Yeah, you guys find anything?”

“Yes, we found your warehouse. It’s completely empty except for one note pinned to the wall.” Tony was taken aback at that. He hesitated to answer.

“What’s it say?” He finally asked.

“Nice try.” A new voice spoke up, Sam. “And there’s a small doodle of a worm maybe? It’s coloured yellow. Does that mean anything to y’all?” Tony closed his eyes, brain running a million miles a minute.

“It’s a yellow snake. That’s the name of their group.” 

“So then they were here.” Steve confirmed his thoughts. 

“Are you going to stay to scout the rest of the area?” Natasha asked.

“No. Our first priorities should be finding the kids.” Steve was fitting back back into his old role as the leader of the team. It was almost just like old times. “Unless you think that the kids could have been relocated here Tony?” He shook his head before he remembered that Steve couldn’t see him.

“No, in both videos they were in the same room.” His mouth went dry just thinking about the videos again. He really didn’t want to have to watch another one.

“How do you know they didn’t record them one after the other?” Sam questioned.

“They were timed stamped.” He replied after a swallow.

“Ok. We’re going to make our way back then. You can expect our arrival in a couple of hours.” Steve decided.

“Roger, Rogers.” He said with a smirk before hanging up, cutting off Steves reply.

 

The masked man took his time with the cattle prod, holding it to the more sensitive parts of Peters body for longer periods of time, leaving angry burn marks on his neck and under his forearms. 

Peters voice was growing hoarse from all of his screaming, and when the man finally pulled away for the last time Peter let his body slump in his restraints, his head tilted back, panting, more tears running down his face. 

His wrists were also raw, and bruising. He had been pulling on them as he writhed in his seat, but was too weak to break them yet. Peter knew they weren’t going to let him get his strength back, they would keep him pumped full of drugs to keep him docile, and to prevent anymore escape attempts. 

He hated feeling so weak and helpless. He desperately wanted Tony to come save him. 

There wasn’t a time where he ever needed his hero more than he did right now.

Peter noticed that the man with the cattle prod had retreated because another man had entered the room. He was wearing a mask too, and stood at the bottom of the staircase.

“It’s ready.” He said with a deep voice, and an intense glower in Peters direction. Magda nodded.

Peter recognized the voice. It was the man called Jones that Peter beat up in his escape attempt. He wanted to ask the man how his dick was but he was too tired. 

He was on the verge of consciousness. Barely keeping his eyes open, he hadn’t had a proper sleep in days, and his body was currently riddled with pain. 

Surprisingly gentle hands pulled the tube out of the IV port in his forearm, leaving the small piece of metal taped to the inside of his skin. He felt the straps holding him down become looser, and get pulled off. A scratchy fabric bag was placed over his head. Peter thought that was stupidly unnecessary, his eyes weren’t even open.

Strong, rough arms pulled him forward, and he was hoisted up onto square shoulders, in a fireman's carry. 

He didn’t struggle. He was too tired, and he knew that he would get nothing out of it except for more pain and punishment. 

 

He was rudely awakened from his dozing state when he was tossed into a body of frigid water. 

His primal instincts were fueled by adrenaline and he lashed out an arm feeling it connect with a surface with a satisfying crunch and a howl of pain. As he thrashed he could hear voices start raising in tones around him and he opened his eyes only to see the underside of a dark fabric. 

Panic and confusion only made him thrash harder. Multiple pairs of hands started pushing down on him forcing him deeper into the freezing water. Someone grabbed his still healing wrist with a gloved hand and forced it down to the bottom of the shallow tub. 

He kicked out with his feet hoping to hit something but he missed, instead hands pressed down on his shoulders, shoving his head down as well. He gasped as his head was submerged in the icy water, breathing in the bitter water and choking on it, swallowing some. He came back up sputtering and coughing, and the hands retreated as the voices died down.

He tried to move his sluggish body out of the water but he found that his wrist was being held down to the bottom of the pool by something. He reached up his free hand and yanked off the wet sack covering his head. 

He was in a dark cement room, the only light coming from outside the open door. He was sitting in the bottom of a small cement pool lined with metal. His wrist was shackled to the ground with a metal cuff and a very short chain. 

His fingers were already numb, and his shoulders were starting to involuntarily shake from the cold. The tub was filled with Ice and what looked like water. Peter wasn’t sure what it was. When it was in his mouth it was bitter.

“I hope you enjoy bath time Peter.” He turned his head to see a silhouette of a woman leaning against the doorframe a few feet away from him. Her arms were crossed over her chest in a casual manner. Peter couldn’t see her face, but he knew who she was.

“Why are you doing this?” He croaked, voice almost gone from screaming so much earlier. She pushed off the door frame and stood centered in between it, arms still crossed over her chest. 

Magda tilted her head regarding the shivering boy, with pleading eyes, and chattering teeth.

“You deserve this.” And she turned on her heel and walked away, slamming the door shut behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't forgotten about Shuri, she will be back in the next chapter


	8. Losing myself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The adrenaline was wearing off and Peters eyes sagged closed. He knew he couldn’t afford to sleep and he fought to open them again. He tried, but he couldn’t tell if he had succeeded or not. He was losing feeling in his body, and it was pitch black in the room with the door shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shuri is back yay

Peter was beginning to grow used to being left alone in the dark. 

He tried pulling on the cuff on his wrist a few times, but it was futile. The metal was too strong for him in his current state and the cold was seeping into his muscles, making it increasingly harder to move. 

He gave up, instead curling his body in on himself as best as he could, leaning against a cement wall. His one arm was outstretched away from him due to the small chain keeping him grounded to the floor.

Only the tops of his knees, his shoulders and head were above the water. The majority of his body submerged in the frigid liquid, and the rest soaking wet from being tossed in. 

Peter was starting to feel the after effects of ingesting the foul tasting liquid. It was definitely water, but it was definitely laced with something. 

He was still shivering, but the water was steadily becoming less cold. He knew that it was only a matter of time before he would stop shaking, and hypothermia would begin to settle in. 

The adrenaline was wearing off and Peters eyes sagged closed. He knew he couldn’t afford to sleep and he fought to open them again. He tried, but he couldn’t tell if he had succeeded or not. He was losing feeling in his body, and it was pitch black in the room with the door shut. 

He was terrified. He never got this scared when he was spiderman.

But he wasn’t spiderman. Not now anyway, he was just Peter and Peter was just a kid.

Kids were allowed to be scared.

As time passed he relaxed more in the water as his shaking decreased. The familiar feeling of floating out of his body enveloped him and he began to succumb to the call of sleep. 

“C’mon Pete up and at’em!” He would have startled if he was able to move.

“What?” he breathed, unable to raise his voice above a whisper.

“You’re going to be late for school, now let's go.” Peter didn’t even try to move. He was too tired. “Peter, wake. Up.” The voice was stern, yet gentle, striking a familiar chord in the back of Peters mind. He struggled to crack his eyelids apart.

Ben stood before him emanating heavenly warm light. He held a backpack out in front of him for Peter to take.

“U’cle Ben?” He slurred.

“Yeah, it’s me kiddo. Let’s go.” Ben rolled his eyes at Peters question, and shook Peters pack impatiently, waiting for him to take it.

“Can’t go t’school t’day… don’ feel good.” Peter somehow managed to bring his voice to a soft groan. Ben gently put Peters bag down at his feet, and walked over to where he was sitting curled in a ball. 

“Do you think you’re sick?” His face contorted in worry, and he crouched down to Peter's level, hovering a hand over his forehead.

“Yes.” he whined. Bens expression suddenly turned serious. 

“I’ll tell you something Peter.” Ben retracted his hand. “It felt worse when you let me die.”

“What?” 

A dark red stain appeared in Ben's shirt on his chest, and began to spread in rivulets down his shirt and into the water turning it red also. The warm glow around his form faded to a cold blue. Peter tried to pull away from his uncles decaying body, but he couldn’t move an inch.

“You deserve this.” His uncle seethed as he stood back up slowly. His skin began to turn gray, and his face became sunken in. Like a corpse. 

Peters eyes watered in fear. What was happening?

Ben wouldn’t act like this.

Ben _couldn’t_ act like this.

Ben was dead.

“No…” Peter moaned as he remembered.

“You could have saved me Peter, but you didn’t. You killed me.” Ben was starting to lose chunks of skin. They were falling off his face and arms leaving behind random patches of rotted flesh and bone. “I hate you.” 

“...stop” He was crying again. 

“I should have never taken you in, you ungrateful brat!” Ben screamed in anger, and Peter cowered away from the man he used to adore. “I will always hate you Peter, your parents will always hate you. You killed them too. You deserv-”

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” Peter exploded and striked out his free arm in fear and anger, sending a splash of infected water towards his fuming uncle. 

The water hit the cement floor with a splat, and Ben disappeared like breath on a mirror. 

Peter fell back against the wall, too exhausted to even cry, though he wanted to. 

“Peter?” A new voice met his ears. He whimpered, and turned away from it.

“Please no more…” 

“Shhhh, baby. I’m here to help.” He opened his weighted eyelids into small slits. He could scarcely make out the outline of a slim woman sitting beside him. Though she was fuzzy, Peter recognized the long, chocolate brown hair and kind eyes framed by glasses. 

May. 

She smiled sadly at him. He tried to snuggle closer into her embrace but the chain on his wrist held him back. 

“Don’t try to fight it anymore Peter. Just go to sleep, i’m with you.” He let his eyes close, he didn’t have the energy to keep them open any longer. “I’m not going to leave you.”

He couldn’t fight it any longer. 

 

She was watching him through a night vision camera that was set up in the corner of the room. 

When he passed out she sent Michael in to collect him. He had stayed awake longer then she expected.

The boy was full of surprises. 

She walked with Michael as he carried Peter back down to the lowest point of the factory that was currently serving as their main base. The large man had Peter cradled in his big arms, and Magda studied his slack face.

He looked peaceful. 

She knew that wouldn’t last. The mother in her felt a small poke of guilt, but she brushed it away.

She was just doing her job. 

When they reached the cement room Michael made to put Peter back in the restraint chair that one of her spies had managed to steal. 

“Wait.” Michael stopped and turned around, looking slightly confused. “I’ve got a better idea.” She smiled darkly.

 

Tony stood alone in Peters bedroom at the tower. 

He had finished his part of the plan, and reinforced the safety systems of the tower and F.R.I.D.A.Y just to be safe. 

Steve and Sam had returned from Russia safely, and Natasha had completed her search through the Stark Industries representatives finding no anomalies. She had moved on to fact checking the regular employees who worked at the tower, mainly the recently hired. 

Rhodey had given them all the disappointing news that T’challa had made contact with the terrorists. He hadn’t given them any money yet though.

Pepper had tried calming him down, but he needed space. He set to wandering the tower and somehow ended up in Peter's room.

He sat down carefully on the unmade bed, trying to preserve everything the way Peter had it set up. He had an hour to mentally prepare himself for the next video.

He closed his eyes and breathed in the lingering scent of Peter in the room. He tried in vain to imagine him sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the bed playing mario kart on the tv. 

The sound of his laughter filled his ears but when he opened his eyes he was alone. 

“Oh Peter…” He flopped backwards onto his kids bed and his eyes fluttered shut, resisting the urge to cry. 

He fell into a light sleep and was woken by F.R.I.D.A.Y nearly an hour later.

“Boss, captain Rogers is looking for you.” He groaned and pulled himself upright as there was a soft knock on Peters door. He stood up and cracked his back quickly before answering the door. 

“Tony.” Steve greeted when Tony pulled open the door.

“Hey.” He replied, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with the palm of his hand. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y said you’d be in here.” Tony looked back inside the bedroom then down at his watch. He had a few minutes before the next video arrived.

“Yeah, it’s Peter's room.” he stated as he stepped out of the bedroom, closing the door shut behind him. “The next video will be here any minute. You’ll probably want to see it.” He monotoned as he began walking down the hall towards the elevator. Steve didn’t follow.

“You really care about him don’t you.” Steve called from behind him, freezing him in his tracks. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at his shoes. “I know how it feels, to struggle to find someone you love, and to see them in pain.” Tony looked back over his shoulder, Steve would know better than anyone. “I just want to say that I don’t regret my actions, but i’m sorry that you got hurt in the process.”

“I know.” 

“Sir, you have a new email from an unknown source containing a video file.” F.R.I.D.A.Y interjected. He ignored her.

“I’m sorry too.” 

 

The present avengers gathered around Tony's computer screen to watch the next video. 

It was labeled: _time is running out_

Peter laid unmoving on the cement floor. His clothes and hair were soaking wet, but the dried blood had been washed off his face and his arm, leaving behind red lines, and ugly scabs. There were new burn marks on his exposed neck, and most likely other parts of his body that Tony couldn’t see.

He was so pale, and so still.

He looked dead. 

No. They wouldn’t have killed him yet, it had only been two days. He looked closer and saw the faint rise and fall of his chest. Tony's heart rate slowed down just a little.

There was the sound of a door slamming shut, and shoes dragging over a cement floor from somewhere behind the camera.

 _“Let me go!”_ Shuris voice stood out among the rest due to her thick accent. 

She was roughly pushed into the frame wearing a dark fabric bag over her head. She reached up her good arm to pull it off throwing it to the ground angrily and turned around to face the camera.

The side her her face was swollen and bruised, she was sporting a black eye and had burn marks all over her neck and arms. She held her broken arm close to her torso, it was still very inflamed and needed a cast pronto. 

She looked back at the person who had shoved her into the frame with a fire in her eyes, cursing at them angrily in Wakandan before stepping back silently, a look of fear on her face. Something or someone behind the camera frightening her. 

She looked around the room and her eyes came to rest on Peter laying on the floor behind her. 

_“Oh my god.”_ she went to his side in a rush. _”Peter? Peter, can you-”_ She placed her hands on the side of his face, but retracted them almost instantly with a gasp. _“He’s freezing cold. What did you do to him?”_

She ran a gentle hand down his face checking his breathing as she went, her hand came to rest on his chest. She took note of the wet clothes, and she slowly raised her head to glare at the people off screen with malice as she realized what they had done. 

For Tony, the feeling was mutual.

Suddenly, the screen split into two. On one side, the video of Peter and Shuri continued, and on the other a new one began, they played at the same time. 

The new video featured Magda.

She was sitting on a long cement staircase, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees.

“That’s-” Tony started.

“Laura Franks.” Steve finished. He was going to say Magda, but Steve was right.

_“Thank you T’challa son of T’chaka, for making contact with us. We will make no negotiations, and our demands still stand. Since it has been two days now, and no attempt at paying us has been made, 10 million dollars have been added onto our original prices. You can do the math.”_

The sound had cut out of the video featuring Peter and Shuri so the focus would be on Magda. Tony could see Shuri screaming profanities at the masked people he assumed were in the room, none of them had made an appearance yet. 

She was trying and failing to pull Peters wet shirt off of him with one arm. 

Peter hadn’t stirred yet and Tony was becoming more worried. 

_“But, because you have made contact we are allowing our prisoners a short time to recover.”_

As Shuri tore Peters shirt off him, a masked woman entered the frame holding a small bundle in her arms. She passed it to Shuri and she unraveled it, revealing a small scratchy blanket. Shuri carefully wrapped it around Peters unconscious body, struggling with the use of only having one arm.

Peter weakly began to toss his head, face screwing up in pain. He brought a bruised arm up and began to try and get the blanket off him. Shuri grabbed a hold of his hand to try and calm him. He turned on his side, and curled into her.

 _“You have amazing timing, Peter is in dire need of medical attention. Hopefully the princess is up to the job.”_ She paused to lean back and cross her legs. _“This won’t happen again. We are growing tired of waiting, and have decided that you have had more than enough time to pay us. We know you have the money… if 48 more hours go by without us getting paid, we will send you the coordinates of where you can pick up their bodies.”_

The screen faded to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if this chapter feels off... I was flying by the seat of my pants lol


	9. Who I am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Peter!” She screamed, when she realized what was happening. She unsteadily got to her feet and stumbled towards him. She hadn’t taken more than a step when Magda came up behind her, wrapping an arm around her neck and placing her knife under her chin, stopping her in her tracks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm thinking about making an update schedule but i'm going on another week long trip, so I won't be able to update again soon anyway... I was thinking maybe Mondays, and Thursdays for when I get back? I will have made up my mind when I return. 
> 
> The angst is hot in this chap so beware

Peter curled into the warmth.

He was so cold.

An angry voice from beside him was ringing in his ears. He couldn’t tell if they were mad at him or not.

Peter decided he didn’t care. 

He groaned as calloused hands grabbed his biceps and pulled his aching body upright, into a sitting position. His head flopped forward uselessly, he was too tired to hold it up. Too tired to even open his eyes. 

A soft substance was pulled over his head to cover his bare torso and his arms were maneuvered through it as well. His wet pants were removed and replaced with dry ones without a lick of embarrassment. He couldn’t bring himself to feel much of anything at the moment. 

A constant pressure never left his hand.

An itchy blanket was wrapped around his shoulders and he was dropped back to the floor like a sack of potatoes, head thudding off the hard floor painfully. He didn't make a sound, just scrunched his face into a grimace.

“Watch it!” A voice growled from beside him as the pressure on his hand increased. He rolled his stiff body to the direction of the voice. He could feel protectiveness rolling off the person in waves, and he knew he would be safe around them. 

“M’ster Stark… wanna go home.” he confessed, with a hoarse voice.

“Peter wh-... Mr Stark’s not here…” The voice was confused and worried, and he blinked open his eyes. “... it’s me, it’s Shuri.” 

He looked up at the strange girl who was sitting beside him, holding his hand tightly.

Who? 

 

“I found something.” All heads turned to look away from the black computer screen and at Natasha who was seated behind them on the floor next to an outlet, a laptop resting on the thighs of her outstretched legs. Nobody noticed her leave during the video.

“What is it?” Steve asked, breaking the silence. Everybody was frozen in hesitant hopefulness. 

“Your spy, Stark.” She stood up from her position, balancing the laptop on her forearm while she used her other arm to unplug it. She strided over to Tony's desk where everyone was gathered and placed the computer down, positioned so everyone could see the screen.

“Are you sure?” Tony asked before he let the feeling of aspiration overwhelm him. 

“Positive.” She pointed a finger at the screen. There was an ID photo of a scruffy looking man along with his resume and extra information. “That’s Darryl Wheeler, he was hired one month ago as a custodian for Stark tower. He’s got a bit of a shady background, multiple warrants and arrests for expired car registration and petty thefts. Nothing too severe. In his resume he says he wants to start over, he doesn’t have much, but he’s willing to change.” She read it word for word. 

“Sounds like your hiring manager took this guy in out of sheer pity.” Sam said with a glance in Tony's direction. Rhodey slapped his arm to shut him up. Tony was too entranced in what Natasha was saying to care about anything else.

She changed tabs on the laptop to a news article. Tony read the bolded head line out loud.

“Suicide in apartment, found three weeks too late.” He scrunched his nose, he wouldn’t have wanted to be the one to discover that. He looked closely at the man in the image shown and compared it to the face of the man they were just looking at. 

“That looks like your guy Tony.” Steve spoke with his usual air of seriousness. Tony just nodded his head.

What did this mean?

“I was just going to pass over him and move onto the next employee, but then I stumbled across this article. It was just published this afternoon.” 

Tony's eyes scanned the article for more information. 

_Darryl Wheeler, 32, found dead in his bathroom when landlord was forced to brake into apartment after not receiving any forms of communication for almost a month._ Tony skipped a few lines. _Evidence shows that cause of death was a self inflicted drug overdose. Neighbors and friends say that this was not unusual behaviour for him to occasionally disappear for long periods of time so they were unworried._

“Do you think he was murdered?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know yet.” Natasha answered him. Tony brought his fingers to his mouth, it was a nervous habit he couldn’t break.

“It’s not hard to make a crime scene look like a suicide.” Rhodey added, and Steve nodded.

“That’s not even the best part guys.” Natasha continued when the attention back back on her. “I did some digging and found that Darryl would have died two days before he was supposed to start working here.” Tony and Nat made direct eye contact. “He checked into work _this morning_.”

Everybody shared a look.

“And if the article was published this afternoon then-” Rhodes started.

“Then there’s a chance he doesn’t know his covers been blown and he might still be here…” Tony finished for him, the lost feeling of triumph returning in his chest. “Steve?”

“I’m on it.” The man was already making his way to the door. Natasha got up from her seat and followed after him.

“I’m coming with you.” Tony watched them go together, almost giddy with the thought that they finally had a lead.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y?” he called out, looking up to the ceiling. 

“Yes sir?” the AI responded instantly.

“Get T’challa on the phone, tell him we’ve got a lead.” 

“Right away boss.”

 

“S-Shuri?” His voice cracked on the last syllable. He didn’t think he knew a Shuri.

“Yes, that’s me.” She smiled sadly after taking a deep, calming breath. Peter couldn’t help but get the feeling that he was upsetting her. “Don’t worry about that right now Peter.” She must have seen the confusion on his face. “How are you feeling?”

“Co-cold…” He was starting to shiver harshly, making it difficult to speak. “... a-and tired.” 

“That’s ok, that’s actually good.” Her face was starting to look more familiar and he began to suspect that he had seen her before. 

He watched as her other hand that was horribly swollen, delicately traced its fingers along Peters forearm, coming to rest on the metal IV port. 

“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you.” She pulled away sharply with a wince as she jostled her arm. “Unless you want one too, your majesty?” The cool voice echoed in his ears and whispered warnings of danger in his mind. 

He closed his eyes as memories from the past week flooded back to him. His brain felt like mush and he tried desperately to not let them slip again. 

Shuri was calling his name worriedly and he squeezed her hand tightly with his own to let her know that he was still awake. 

“I li-like y-your accent, w-w-where you f-from?” his shivering was getting worse, they were turning into tremors. She squeezed his hand back, albeit very gently and giggled. Peter felt the corners of his lips pull up slightly at the beautiful sound. 

“I’m Liberian.” 

“Oh, m-my bad.” He opened his eyes to see her looking down at him, a small smile on her face. “I like yo-your a-accent, where y-you from?” he whispered, and Shuri laughed at the vine reference. 

“My name is Michael with a b, and i’ve been afraid of insects my whole life.” Shuri started another one and Peters light smile grew larger. 

It was quickly wiped away when someone came behind Shuri. They grabbed her tightly by the elbow of her bad arm and pulled her upright. Shuri complied with a hiss, not wanting to cause herself further pain.

“Alright, that’s enough of that.” Magda pulled Shuri away from Peter, leaving him trembling alone on the floor. 

Peter was rudely reminded of the situation they were still in.

“N-no!” he cried as she was brought out of his reach, Shuri looked over her shoulder at him with pain filled eyes. “Put h-her down!” he called to Magda and she stopped in her tracks. She pivoted around slowly, pulling Shuri along with her. 

“Put her down?” She questioned, and Peter just watched her, shivering in his spot on the cement floor, too weak to get up and follow after them. “Ok.” She said simply while shrugging before she released Shuris elbow and shoved her forward.

Hard. 

Shuri was taken by surprise and landed on her hands and knees causing her to put sudden, intense pressure on her broken arm. She let out a scream at the sudden agony and rolled onto her side, clutching the limb to her chest tightly. Tears of pain pressed their way through her clenched eyelids. 

“No! Shuri!” Peter yelled in anger. He feebly rolled onto his stomach and tried to get his knees underneath him but his body was too weak and shaky. The most he could do was get one arm underneath him before it gave out. His friends pain egged him on, and he kept trying, slowly crawling his way towards her. 

Magda stood behind Shuri and watched him struggle with amusement and astonishment. She seemed to bathe in their anguish and Peter wanted to do nothing more than tear her apart.

His strength gave out after a couple of seconds of worming his way across the floor. He had barely moved any closer to his suffering friend and he reached out a quivering hand in her direction before dropping it to the floor, completely drained. 

“How heroic.” a different feminine voice rang out. “Look at him, going to save his girlfriend.” she broke out into mocking laughter and Peter retracted his hand slowly. He longed for his web shooters, so he could simply fling out his wrist and effectively shut her up. She had no idea how heroic he could be. 

The sound of Shuris sniffles stopped and Peter raised his head. Magda was staring at him intensely, all traces of prior amusement had been washed away. 

“Michael, put him back in the chair. Jayla, i’ve got a job for you.” Magda ordered. 

The big man came over to him and placed his beefy hands under Peters arms. He began to drag the much smaller boy backwards, towards the restraint chair that sat abandoned, his shoes scraping against the cement. 

“Let go of me!” he snarled, twisting his shoulders weakly as he was pulled away from Shuri. The mans hold would not give, Peter was only succeeding in reopening some of the still healing cuts on his arm. 

Peter watched as Shuri slowly sat up, the worst of her pain subsiding and she turned to look at him with a wet face. 

“Peter!” She screamed, when she realized what was happening. She unsteadily got to her feet and stumbled towards him. She hadn’t taken more than a step when Magda came up behind her, wrapping an arm around her neck and placing her knife under her chin, stopping her in her tracks. 

“Ah, ah, ah.” She teased playfully, rocking them side to side and walking them backwards in an awkward slow dance. 

Peter was pulled up onto his feet, then forcefully pushed backwards. His wobbly knees gave out almost instantly and he fell back heavily, landing on his butt, back in the chair. Michael placed one of his large, meaty hands on Peters chest pushing his back up against the chair. Both of Peters hands went to try and pry it off of him but Michael simply used his free hand to pin one of Peters wrists down to the arm of the chair. 

“No!” He hollered in anger as Michael released the hand on his chest to strap on the restraint. He feebly kicked at the mans shins, but it was no use. Peter was too weak. 

As Michael was pinning down Peter's other hand, Peter took his chance and leaned forward. He bit Michaels hand as hard as he could, coursing with pure fury, not even letting go when the man let out a satisfying howl of pain. The bitter taste of blood filled his mouth. 

He stayed latched on like a dog until a hot stinging pain was stabbing into his ribs. He let go with his own cry of pain. The electricity made his already shivering muscles convulse under his new shirt and he threw his head back against the chair, unable to hold back another scream. 

“Jayla that’s enough.” It stopped and his eyes fluttered shut as he sagged backwards, he was finally ready to accept the offer of unconsciousness that his body was supplying. “Uh uh. You don’t get to pass out now.” 

There was a sudden pain on his cheek, whipping his head to the side and snapping his eyes open. He was realizing that all of his restraints were on him when a hand grabbed his chin, forcing him to look straight ahead and into her eyes. Magda was holding his chin so tightly her fingernails were digging into his cheeks. 

Her eyes had a crazy sheen to them, and Peter was no longer just shivering from the cold.

“It doesn’t have to be this way Peter, if you would just tell me what you are.” She coaxed.

The tone of her voice made Peter feel sick inside. 

He spat in her face.

Magda turned her head in the nick of time, and it landed on her cheek instead of her nose. She took in a deep breath as she slowly released her hand from his chin, bringing it up to wipe off the saliva that was stained slightly pink from Michaels blood. She wiped it on her dark jeans before placing her hands on Peters restrained wrists again.

“You know, I wasn’t going to do it this way.” She continued as if nothing even happened. “I was just going to torture you to see if you would break, and eventually give me my answer. But, then I remembered something. You guys…” She jumped around to the side of his chair and pointed at Shuri who was backed in the corner with Jayla looming over her, cattle prod in hand. “...you guys are buddies! I mean, that’s why it was so easy to take you in the first place! So, why don’t we see how well this buddy knows you.”

“No!” Peter tried to protest as electricity cracked dangerously close to Shuri. He knew what she was going to do. Magda crouched down so she was right beside his ear.

“So basically, because you didn’t spill your guts, she’s going to spill hers.”

This was all his fault and there was nothing he could do about it.

Shuri screamed as the prod touched her skin and Peters eyes filled with tears. He knew that she knew that he was spiderman. 

He knew that she wouldn’t say anything. She was too stubborn and loyal, which would only cause her more pain. 

But if they did break her, and Shuri did say, he knew that she would be so overwhelmed with guilt.

Peter couldn’t let that happen.

She screamed again, louder this time and Peter closed his eyes as the tears ran down his cheeks.

“Stop, please!” he begged with Magda as she stood solemnly by his chair. She didn’t look down at him. “PLEASE YOU HAVE TO STOP!” Peter strained his voice so his pleas could be heard over top of Shuris screams. "I-I have super strength, I can stick to walls!" He started to list but Magda still didn’t spare him a glance. A small smirk was on her face, she wanted him to keep going. He swallowed and took in a deep breath.

How important was his identity in comparison to his friends life?

It didn’t matter at all. 

“I’M SPIDERMAN!” He shouted and he closed his eyes, tilting his head down. Shuris cries started to dwindle. “I’m spiderman, just stop please…” He was starting to sob, from the fatigue, pain, and overflow of emotions. “...please, just stop.”

He opened his blurry eyes to see Magda crouched in front of him. He couldn’t read her expression, mostly because of the water in his eyes. 

“Put her back in her room.” Magda called over her shoulder, without taking her eyes off of the crying boy in front of her. Jayla pulled a sniffling Shuri up the stairs, and the door banged shut. “No jokes?” She asked, and Peter shook his head in response.

No jokes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the vine references scene I was considering doing the t-t-t-t-t-t-TARGET one to go with Peters stuttering, but then I was like no that is dumb. So I did not.


	10. Pay what is due

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re going to leave me here.” He started to cry as Tony walked away from him. He stopped at Shuris chair and placed down a small case that Peter hadn’t noticed before. “That’s fine, I love it here anyways…” Peter sang with sarcasm, as hot angry tears ran down his cheeks. “...and I never want to leave.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10k hits on this thing? what the FUKK BRUH  
> Thank you all for making me cry with happiness!
> 
> Someone in the comments let me know that the language the Wakandans speak is actually called Xhosa not Wakandan and now I feel really stupid, but also grateful so thank you again to my dude out there! For the continuity of the story i'm going to leave it as Wakandan, so I don't confuse anyone, so sorry if that pisses you off. But in future fics I will definitely have it fixed!
> 
> Also medical inaccuracies!!!! I've never done this particular drug before so don't @ me if I've been describing it wrong. It's fanfiction for crying out loud anyways.

_“Are you saying that I sent a group of my best scientists, and my own sister into your hospitality, when you had a spy in your midst?”_ T’challa wasn’t as angry as Tony thought he would be. 

The king of Wakanda stood across from him with his arms crossed, his body language displaying disapprovement. Tony studied his slightly pixelated expression - F.R.I.D.A.Y had set up a video call for the two men, and they now appeared as holograms to each other. T’challa’s face was unreadable, but the creases on his forehead and bags under his eyes told Tony that the man was exhausted. 

He didn’t need a mirror to tell him that he looked the same. He felt the tiredness in his bones, but he couldn’t allow himself to rest. 

He would have more than enough time for that after they found Peter. 

“Yes, the people who have done this have obviously been planning this for a long time.” Tony confessed. It frustrated him to no end that these people had managed to plant a spy in his core facility, and he didn’t notice. 

_“How could this happen? We went through everything concerning the meetings, and arrangements, and security._ Everything _, but still…”_ T’challa brought a hand up to his chin.

“I don’t know.” he sighed, he hated not knowing. “This is all my fault.” He felt shameful, and looked away from T'challa's image.

 _“Stop it.”_ T'challa's voice was exasperated, and Tony glanced his eyes back upwards. _“You blame yourself for something you did not forsee, for something you could not foresee. I did not foresee it either, so is it both of our faults?”_ Tony opened his mouth to answer but T’challa cut him off. _“No. The only people to blame for this are those sick minded terrorists.”_

Tony just nodded and managed a weak smile at the younger mans wiser words. In his mind he couldn’t bring himself to agree. He knew it was his fault. The spy was in with _his_ people, the kids had been taken in _his_ country.

He promised T’challa that his delegates would be safe- that his sister would be safe. 

He promised May Parker that her nephew would be alright.

All of Tony Stark’s promises seem to shatter like glass. 

“Boss, captain Rogers and Miss Romanoff have apprehended Darryl Wheeler.” F.R.I.D.A.Ys cool voice rang out, snapping Tony out of his thoughts, and catching T'challa's attention. “They have taken him to the interrogation room.” 

“Good.” He spoke to the ceiling. “Tell them i’ll be there in a minute.” He looked back over to the hologram in front of him. T’challa was waiting for him to speak again. “I have to go, I will have Pepper keep you upda-”

 _“Wait Tony.”_ his voice was cautious, and Tony tensed up at the sound of it, anticipating bad news. _“There is something else we must discuss."_

Tony closed his eyes and inwardly cringed. He knew what T’challa was trying to get at, and was hoping that it wouldn’t come up. 

_“You have to start considering making the payments.”_

“No.” Tony shook his head. 

_“We have to make the decision together Tony. It’s been too long of a search…”_

“No.” Tony's anger was building.

 _“... think about it, two days already have gone by with nothing to show for it. I cannot let my sister stay in that place any longer.”_ T'challa's voice was too calm for Tonys liking. 

“No!” He snapped. “I will not make the payments. I can’t.” Tony took in a deep breath, to try and collect himself more. “I can’t make the payments, not when there are more potential lives at stake. Not when I know that we still have a chance at getting them back alive _and_ ending their organization.” Tony tried to reason with the other man.

 _“You think I am not also conflicted? That I am not also angry, Stark?_ T'challa's voice was also growing in agitation. _“It has been two days. Two. And no progress has been made. Every second that goes by, my sister and your intern face more torture, and are one day closer to death. I cannot allow this to continue any longer.”_

“We have a lead!” Tony argued. “You don’t think that’s progress? Natasha is interrogating the spy as we speak!” T’challa was silent for a moment.

_”So then what do you propose?”_

“That we wait.” T’challa rolled his eyes. “Just a little longer. Natasha can get their base location out of him and we can bring them down! We just have to wait a little while longer.” Tony begged, and he rarely did. T’challa just sighed.

 _“And what if he does not know? What if he doesn’t talk?”_ Tony stayed silent. He had been trying not to think about that. _“Five hours, and if he says nothing then we pay.”_

“Six.” Tony bargained, T’challa just sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose with fingers.

_“Fine. Do we have a deal then?”_

Tony swallowed, lost in thought. That may not be enough time. He took a long look at T’challa. He did not appear to be in a negotiating mood. 

“Deal.”

Natasha better work her magic, or this could all go to shit. 

 

Magda left him with the IV on again. 

She left the lights on this time though.

That was nice of her, Peter thought to himself. Maybe she forgot to turn them off.

He was visited by his old childhood dog, Tessa. She ran around him in playful circles, occasionally yapping happily, and bounding around as if she was chasing something. She seemed to glow. When she was done she laid down at his feet, far enough away that they didn’t make contact but Peter still felt comfort in her presence.

He knew that he was back in his drugged state.

His compliant state.

He couldn’t move at all, and could barely think for himself. Left to simply watch as his mind created images, and play tricks on him while he numbly floated. 

Peter didn’t know how long he sat there for, with his dog quietly snoozing at his feet. 

It felt like years. 

Tessa suddenly perked her head up, and began to growl from her spot on the floor. Peter looked around to see what was irritating her but there was nothing there to see.

She got to her feet and began to bark angrily at nothing, jaws snapping frighteningly. She stood in front of Peter like she was protecting him from something, but there was still nothing there. 

Peter was beginning to get scared.

She stopped barking and yipped instead like she had gotten hurt. She cowered backwards a few steps with a whine, before turning and bolting behind him. 

Peter attempted to follow her movements, but when he looked behind himself she was gone. He turned back around in confusion, she had just disappeared. 

“Hey Pedro.” Toomes sat across from him in Shuris abandoned chair, a wicked smile on his face. 

Peter would have jumped if he was able to. Instead he felt the blood rush from his face in fear, his heart was hammering in his ears as if he had just run a marathon. 

“Did you miss me?” 

Before Peter could bring himself to respond, the door at the top of the stairs had opened, drawing his attention to two more figures entering the room. 

Mr. Stark and aunt May walked down the stairs.

Peters chest exploded with hopefulness. 

“Mr. Stark! Hurry, Toomes is here he’s gonna… he’s gonna…” He looked back over to where Toomes was, but the man was gone. There was no evidence that he had ever been there, and Peters eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I… w-what? He was just right there.” He looked towards his mentor for an answer but received none.

Mr. Stark and his aunt simply shared a look.

“What? I told you he was chatty.” May shrugged before placing her hands on her hips. Mr. Stark merely raised an eyebrow at her before stepping up towards him. He flashed a bright light in his eyes with a flashlight that he pulled out of thin air. 

Peter didn’t flinch or pull away from it, he was currently immune to pain. He simply blinked at it and Mr. Stark pulled away.

“What are you giving him?” he asked as he reached a hand over to Peters IV bag. 

“Ketamine. As much as we could get our hands on.” May replied. 

Peter was confused. Ketamine was a drug he had learned about in health class. Why were his aunt and Tony talking about it now? Shouldn’t they be focused on escaping?

“Are we leaving soon?” He didn’t want to sound rude. 

He only succeeded in gaining their attention. Mr. Stark looked uncomfortable, while May just crossed her arms over her chest.

“Are you sure he’s the one?” Tony asked May, ignoring Peters question.

“Positive.” She replied coolly.

“He’s just a kid.”

“I know.” Tony looked right into Peter's pleading eyes and looked hesitant for a moment. 

“Please, I just want to go home.” Peters eyes watered as he begged with his father figure. 

They kept eye contact for a few more seconds before Tony's eyes turned clinical and his jaw hardened. 

“Can you take him off of it? I want to get some blood samples too.” 

“Of course, but I would advise you to be quick. It doesn’t take him long to detox, his metabolism is impossibly fast.” May walked over to the side of him and fiddled with something. Peter didn’t care about what she was doing, he was too heartbroken.

“You’re going to leave me here.” He started to cry as Tony walked away from him. He stopped at Shuris chair and placed down a small case that Peter hadn’t noticed before. “That’s fine, I love it here anyways…” Peter sang with sarcasm, as hot angry tears ran down his cheeks. “...and I never want to leave.” He wasn’t sure why he was saying these lies, his mouth was moving on its own, and he was slowly becoming drowsy.

“Really?” Aunt May spoke up from beside him, and she walked over to where Mr. Stark was. He had opened up the case to reveal rows of various medical equipment. Peters eyes went straight to the shiny scalpels, and needles nestled in the corner. “Then I guess we’ll have to leave you here forever.” 

“Forever?” Peter gasped, and May laughed at him. 

Anger drained out of him, like water draining from a tub, leaving him empty and hollow. 

Feeling crept back into his muscles and fatigue clouded his brain. 

Tony walked back over to him with a small, empty test tube. He put his free hand into Peter's greasy hair and Peter leaned into the familiar gesture. However, he flinched away when there was a unexpected pain on the spot of his head where Tony's hand used to be. 

He watched Tony stuff a few of his hairs into the tube as he walked back over to the open case, and where May stood. Tony picked up a black marker and wrote something on the glass tube before placing it back into the case. 

The weight of Peters fatigue threatened to drown him.

He watched as Tony's hand floated along all the different medical utensils and came to rest on the scalpel. 

Peter decided that he didn’t want to be awake for the next part.

Thankfully, his body agreed.

 

Tony walked into the interrogation room almost six hours after his chat with T’challa. 

Natasha had been working non-stop. There was a bit of blood splattered on her fair face, but otherwise looked like her usual self. 

The man was a different story.

He was beaten and bruised, there was blood on his body from many different wounds, and obvious breaks in some of his bones. All of his injuries were located where they would cause the most pain, none of them were fatal.

Yet.

“Tony, I didn’t know you were coming.” He couldn’t take his eyes off the man. He knew she was good at what she did, and it was a gruesome business, but he wasn’t expecting that so soon. 

What if Peter was in the same state?

The air in the room seemed to grow thin around him, and he vaguely realized that he was the only one affected by it. 

A gentle hand was placed on his chest and pushed him backwards, out of the door and into the hallway. The door closed shut behind them, blocking off Tony's view of the man on the floor.

“Sit down Tony.” Nat’s sly voice ordered him and he complied without question, grateful to feel a soft surface underneath him instead of the hard floor. “When was the last time you properly rested?”

He was glad that she didn’t ask him if he was ok, he didn’t know if he could bring himself to lie to her. She could always see straight through them anyways. 

“I’m fine.” He tried anyways, brushing her hand off his shoulder.

“Tony.” She scolded him.

“I got a few hours about a day ago now.” He brought his palms up to rub his eyes, and Natasha sighed in disapproval. “Has he said anything yet?” He changed the subject.

“No.” Tony closed his eyes and let his head rest against the wall behind him. “Look, i’m sorry I just need more time.” 

“Yeah well, that’s the one thing we just ran out of.” He stood back up to stand beside her. “It’s ok, I know you tried your best.” He awkwardly patted her shoulder and began to make his way down the hallway, to go contact T’challa.

“This doesn’t have to be the end of it you know.” She clipped, and Tony turned around to face her.

“What do you mean?”

“I have a plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday to the love of my life, Sebastian Stan!
> 
> Also belated Birthday to Peter Parker! I never realized he was only a month older than me lol
> 
>  
> 
> and yes I named Peters dog Tessa for all you Tom Holland fans out there
> 
> Rescue is very soon so don't leave!


	11. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She walked out of the room, leaving Peter to sit alone and soak up all the information she had just given him. He didn’t know what to do with it. 
> 
> He had hoped that Mr. Stark would be coming for him but now he wished the opposite. He didn’t want Tony to give up any money for him, let alone his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dis chapter is really long sorry. Well... i don't actually know, it just took a long time to write. I started writing it yesterday and stayed up till 2, then started writing again as soon as I woke up today. I rewrote each section like 5 times cuz I was unhappy with them and I still kind of am but whatever. 
> 
> Ignore any spelling errors or grammar mistakes, or let me know in the comments. I don't have an editor so with such a big chapter I probably missed a lot of things but I tried my best ok.
> 
> RESCUE TIME!! I hope ya'll are satisfied
> 
> also WARNING!! Jayla attempts to rape Peter at the end of this chapter so if you're sensitive to that content then don't read!!

“... I’m listening.” Tony was feeling tentative. He was too used to getting let down. 

“I’m confident I can crack this guy, I just need more time.” Tony dragged his hands down his face in exasperation.

“Nat, I told you already, we don’t have any time left.”

“Tony, you’re not listening to me.” She walked towards him intimidatingly and Tony instinctively backed up a step. “If you and T’challa pay them, they will probably relocate the kids to a different location so you can pick them up.” She looked up at him expectantly, but he was just confused.

“Yeah… and?” She deadpanned, and Tony swallowed dryly.

“And, if I break this guy then we can infiltrate their base while the kids are safely removed, and while they are unprepared for attack. We don’t have to completely give up.” 

His eyes widened in consideration. Her plan was smart, and easy. 

He shook his head and closed his eyes, there were still too many issues.

What if they realized that they had captured their spy and had moved bases? What if they didn’t relocate the kids? What if they suspect that they’re planning an attack, and refuse to give them back? What if the spy doesn’t break?

What if?

Tony decided that even if Natasha didn’t break their spy, he would still have paid, and would get to see Peter again. Alive, and more or less ok. 

“It won’t work…”

“Do you have any better ideas?” She shot back. “Besides, I think that it’s a better alternative than just giving them what they want, without putting up a fight.”

Tony let out a slow breath. No he didn’t have any better ideas. Nobody had. He decided they would have to take their chances.

“How much longer do you think it will take for the guy to spill?”

“Maybe a couple more hours? I can’t tell.”

“That’s not good enough Romanoff.”

“It’s going to have to be.” Tony took one last calming breath, before making up his mind.

“Alright. I’ll gather the team, you keep working. I’ll let you know what happens.” She nodded at him as he turned and continued his path back down the hall, towards the elevator. “F.R.I.D.A.Y?”

“Yes, boss?”

“Alert the team, tell them to meet in the common room. And get T’challa on the line.” He marched his way down the hall and reached the elevator.

“Yes sir.” There was a short pause of silence as the elevator doors opened, and Tony stepped inside. “Colonel Rhodes has asked if you have another lead. What shall I inform him?”

“Tell him that i’m going to get my fucking kid back.” The doors slid closed around him.

 

It took a few minutes for everyone to gather, but when they did Tony explained Natashas plan. 

It wasn’t hard to persuade anybody. It wasn’t much of a plan, just an addition to their previous one but it gave them hope and something to prepare for. They were all tired of sitting around. 

They were ready to avenge. 

Together, T’challa and Tony made contact with the Yellow Snakes, informing them that they were willing to pay the ransoms. 

“Maybe if this works out, you can get your money back too.” Sam said from his spot on the couch as they all waited for the Yellow Snakes response. “You know, if we find their base.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen.” Steve spoke softly with a sad glance in Tony's direction. Tony kept his eyes cast downwards.

“What? Finding their base or getting the money back?” Rhodey questioned.

“The money. I think that as soon as it’s deposited, we won’t see it again.” Everyone was silent, waiting in anticipation for the next email. “They have many bases right? Across who knows how many countries. It’ll probably get sent to some safe buried in the ocean for all we know.” 

“What do you think they’ll do with it?” Sam asked.

“Make weapons? Who knows.” Tony fumed, this conversation was not helping his mental battle. He needed more reasons _not_ to feel guilty about paying the ransoms, but at the moment it was his only choice. “I have money to spare anyways…” He fingered a stray string on the hem of his shirt. He could sense everyone's looks of pity wash over him and he hated it. 

_“So do I.”_ Tony looked up to see T'challa's holographic form standing solemnly in the middle of the room. _“You are not alone in your feelings.”_ The two shared a comforting moment before Steve broke in.

“We need a plan of action.” All eyes in the room were on the bearded man. “Let's prepare ourselves for the event that Natasha's interrogation works. Who are we going to send to collect the kids, and who are we going to send to the base?” 

“I’ll go to get the kids.” Tony volunteered straight away. “Peter’s going to need me.” He was sure that Peter would want him more than anything when he was rescued. He had learned from past injuries and mishaps that the boy was clingy when he was hurt and Tony was in no place to deny him anything. 

“Ok.” Steve nodded, understanding.

“I’ll go with you.” Sam volunteered also, which came as a surprise to Tony. He always got the feeling that Sam had never really liked him. Perhaps he was helping out of sympathy. “We will likely get to the kids before any medical staff can arrive, and I am also trained in that field. I can help too.” He spoke with his usual sass, but his eyes were kind. Tony nodded his head in appreciation. 

“Alright, that will probably be enough.” Steve carried his stare over to where Rhodey sat beside Sam. “That leaves you and me to go to their base. We’ll leave Natasha here for tech support, and T’challa…” he looked over at the king. “We’ll take any of your people that you can spare.”

_“Of course captain. I am also sending more of my medical personnel to your country. I am sure that they will be of great assistance to you.”_

“Thank you.” 

Everyone shared a moment of comfortable silence, once the plan was finished.

“So what do we do now?” Sam piped up, and Rhodey groaned.

“We wait, dumbass.” was his reply, and Tony gave a small smile at the sound of his best friends irritation. 

Almost an hour later, the Yellow Snakes contacted them back. They sent a link for Tony and T’challa to transfer the money on, and a note saying that they would contact them again when they received the money.

T’challa and Tony payed the ransoms, and were left once again, to wait.

Shortly afterwards, the Yellow Snakes responded again with another video message. 

It was labeled: _Spiderman_

Tony's blood ran cold.

They found Peters identity. This could not end well. 

The call with T’challa had ended after they had made the payments and the king of Wakanda had most likely been sent the same video to watch. With Shaking fingers, he opened the tab, and played the video for all the avengers to see.

Magda sat on the cement staircase again. 

_“Hello, and thank you for your gracious payments. We have received the money, and have decided to let one of our hostages go.”_

“One of them? That bitch.” Sam grumbled, but Tony saw this coming.

If she knew Peter was Spiderman she wasn’t going to let him go as easily.

 _“Attached with this video is an address for where you can pick up the princess Shuri. Meet us there at 7:00 tonight, don’t be late, and no funny business.”_ Magda stared directly into the camera. He felt as if she was looking straight at him and he absentmindedly crossed his arms over his chest. _“Now Stark, concerning Peter… it has been brought to my attention that your intern… is Spiderman. The price on his head just went up.”_

Tony cringed. He didn’t want to have to give them even more money, on top of what he just paid them.

 _“We’ll keep what you just paid us, and only ask for a meager 30 million more dollars. Does that sound good to you?”_ Tony clenched his fists. There was no way he would pay that. _“You’re getting close to the last 24 hours of Peters stay here. If you refuse to pay us, you’ll never see your little spider again.”_

The video ended, and Tony went over to the couch and collapsed on it. He placed his head in his hands and sat in silence. Anxiety held his poor heart like a vice, and he held his breath as he tried to control his racing thoughts.

Nobody said a word to him and he was thankful. 

“Excuse me sir, miss Romanoff would like to speak with you.” F.R.I.D.A.Y lured him out of his thoughts and he pulled his hands off his face. 

“Put her on speaker.” His voice wavered. 

“Tony?” Natashas clear voice rang throughout the small room, drawing everyone's focus to it. 

“Yeah. Please tell me something good.”

“I’ve got a location.”

 

Peter woke up to somebody poking his cheek.

It was difficult for him to wake up. His head was extremely foggy, but at the same time, much clearer. 

His body felt different.

He was off the drugs. 

He didn’t know how long he had slept for, but it felt like he hadn’t slept in decades and his body was already benefiting from it. He felt stronger, but he wasn’t anywhere close to his full strength yet. 

He was completely sore. His body was covered in burns, and cuts that still pained him. His healing factor was working, but very slowly without the assistance of food or water. The drugs hadn’t been helping either.

“Wakey wakey.” The finger kept poking his cheek and he grudgingly opened his eyes, blinking away the last remnants of sleep. “I’ve got something for you!” Magda bounced on her feet with childlike energy, her voice was sickeningly cheerful. “Look, yummy!” 

She held out her hands in front of his face. She was holding a microwavable chicken dinner in her hands. Steam wafted off of it and up Peters nose. The scent made his mouth water and his stomach groan in eagerness.

“Yeah, we’re moving out of this shithole so we gotta clean out our freezer.. Thought I would treat you to something nice, now open up.” She pulled a fork from her pocket and stabbed a piece of chicken, bringing it up to Peters mouth. 

Out of pure stubbornness, he turned his head away from the tempting food despite his growling stomach. He didn't want anything that she had to offer him. 

“You’re going to be this way? Come on Peter, I know you’re hungry.” She moved the chicken so it was up under his nose. The smell of food made his stomach clench painfully in anticipation, but Peter squeezed his eyes shut in resistance until she retreated. 

He opened them back up after a few seconds to see her standing in front him still. The dinner was still in her hands and her usual bored expression was back on her face. Peter looked directly into her eyes and thought for a split second that she was about to dump the steamy food into his lap. 

Instead she turned around and pulled Shuris empty chair closer to his own, before sitting down in it and crossing her legs.

“Fine. I’ll eat it.” She brought the fork to her own mouth and ate the chicken off it. “I thought you’d be a little more grateful. Especially since it’s the last meal you’re ever going to get.” She stated matter-of-factly while staring at the bare fork with mild interest.

“What?” Peter rasped, voice weak from sleep, disuse, and dehydration. 

She had grabbed his attention. Did Mr.Stark not pay the ransom? He felt disappointed that Tony didn’t want to take him back, but he knew that he was probably making the right decision and protecting other people. Peter was jealous. He thought Tony cared. 

“Yeah, Daddy Warbucks didn’t want to buy you back.” She skewered another piece of chicken, offering it again to Peter. This time he couldn’t resist and he took it, albeit hesitantly. “Good boy… Shuri gets to go home, and you get to stay.”

“So you’re going to kill me then?”

“Yes and no.” She studied his expression, and gave him another small piece of chicken. “We’re leaving, and you’re not coming with us.” 

“Why?” it was the first question out of his mouth.

“We had a spy planted at Stark tower, he was apprehended. It’s only a matter of time before he gives the location of our base and the avengers come barging in.” 

Hope flared in Peters chest, maybe that’s why Tony hadn’t paid his ransom. He could already be on his way to get him. 

“So then why leave me behind?” There was something she wasn’t telling him. If they left Peter behind and Mr. Stark had their spy, then he could come and get him at any time. Peter couldn’t see a downside. 

“You’re bait.” She popped another piece of chicken in her mouth. “We’re bringing everything with us when we leave, except you of course… and approximately 450 pounds of explosives.” She stated nonchalantly. Peters heart raced in fear and shock.

“What, so you blow me to smithereens before they get here?” his breaths were beginning to come in pants, as he tried to stifle his anger.

“No no no, we blow you to smithereens _when_ they get here. Something tells me it’ll be your precious ‘Mr. Stark’ you’re always whining about that’ll get here first, and when he does… boom.” She offered him another piece of chicken but he turned away again. She dropped it back down with a scoff, and made to stand up. “Two birds, one stone.” 

She walked out of the room, leaving Peter to sit alone and soak up all the information she had just given him. He didn’t know what to do with it. 

He had hoped that Mr. Stark would be coming for him but now he wished the opposite. He didn’t want Tony to give up any money for him, let alone his life. 

Magda came back down the stairs shortly after she left, carrying a bottle of water. She drank half of it herself before helping Peter drink the rest of it. When it was empty she threw it aside and began to take to take down the tripod.

Peter just watched her, there was nothing else he could do.

Magda tucked the tripod underneath her arm and made her way to the exit. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned around one last time.

“Goodbye Peter. If you’re lucky, this will be the last time you see me.” She turned on her heel and marched up the stairs, slamming the door shut on the way out. 

Luck had never been on his side.

 

The clock was approaching 7:00. 

The avengers were still going to go through with their plan even though there were some slight alterations. Tony wanted to be wherever Peter was going to be and Rhodey wasn’t going to stop him, so they switched places. 

There was still a group going to pick up Shuri, but the group that was originally just going to scope out the base was now also given the task of finding, and rescuing Peter. 

Sam and Rhodey had reached the location that they were told to go to by the terrorists, and the rest of the team was waiting at the tower for their signal that the princess had been safely collected before they moved out. 

If they left too soon they could be spotted by the Yellow Snakes from their base and the deal could be brought off. Steve had decided it would be best to wait for the ensured safety of the princess before making their move. 

The location that the spy had given them led them to an abandoned factory on the outskirts of New Jersey. A twenty minute fly for Tony if he went at top speed in his suit. Steve and the Wakandans were taking a quinjet, which was also fast but not as fast as an ironman suit so Tony would be the first to arrive. 

“We’ve got her. Safe and secure, but we need a med team asap.” Sam reported through everyone's earpieces with an air of seriousness. 

Tony didn’t respond, instead taking his cue from Steve and blasting off into the sunset, off to get his kid back.

 

The fly felt like eternity to Tony, but he had the chatter of his teammates over the coms to help pass the time.

He was so tired of waiting.

When he arrived he circled around the factory in search of an entrance. It didn’t take him long to find double doors sealed shut on the outside of a cement wall. 

He flew himself backwards a couple of meters before charging forwards, feet first. 

The doors flew off their hinges and slammed onto the ground in front of him, Tony following suit. He touched down with his palms outstretched, repulsors charged and ready to fire. 

Everything was metal and cement, there were pipes everywhere. 

It was also eerily quiet, and there was no sign of anybody. 

“I’m here.” He called to his team.

“What do you see?” Steve asked.

“Nothing yet, i’m going to take a look around.”

The farther Tony walked into the factory, the more he became suspicious of the lack of persons. Maybe the spy had lied? Maybe they moved bases already, and took Peter with them?

He was still determined to search for Peter. If there was a chance that he was still there, Tony wanted to make sure he took it. 

Tony thought back to the videos he had been sent. Peter had always been in a room with cement walls and no windows, indicating that he was some place underground.

Tony made his way downwards. 

 

Peter pulled his restraints with all his might, but it was no use. The food and rest had made him feel a bit better, but he was still too weak to break them. 

He stopped pulling on them after he noticed the bruises forming on his wrists. He had almost used up all of his strength again, and was left breathing harshly in his chair. 

He tossed his head backwards and groaned in frustration. He didn’t know how long he sat like that for. 

He was entranced by the shadows on the floor by his chair. They were dancing and waving even though nothing in the room was moving. His mind made them look like little kids running around and playing. He even heard one of them laugh in delight as they hopped and skipped.

He didn’t hear the door open or quiet feet come down the stairs. 

A cold bony hand grabbed the back of his neck as its partner traveled to the roller clamp on his IV, turning it back on.

The children screamed and disappeared like smoke. 

“No!” Peter gasped as he could feel the drugs slither back into his veins. 

He started to pull on his restraints again as a woman in a mask walked in front of him. She climbed on top of him, straddling his hips and with a giggle, she pulled off her mask. 

“God, you look even hotter when you do that.” Long, ash blonde hair fell out and draped across her shoulders framing her wrinkly face. The woman was middle aged and was probably very beautiful when she was younger. Peter didn’t care how she looked, her presence was not wanted. 

She nuzzled her face into his neck, and started running her hands up and down his chest. 

“Get off of me…” Peter didn’t sound nearly as threatening as he wanted to be. The drugs were back in his system, and he was losing control of himself again. She seemed to sense this also and just laughed at him again, pulling her head away to look at him.

“Magda was so selfish, keeping you all to herself…” she caressed a finger down the side of his face. His muscles had relaxed to the extent that he could not hold his head up any longer and it fell forward. She caught it with her hands before it could come to rest on his chest. “...ever since I first saw you I couldn’t stop thinking about you… you’re such a pretty boy.” 

She leaned forward and kissed him hard, grinding her hips into his stomach. 

Peter closed his eyes as the tears began to fall.

He did _not_ want this.

She pulled away from him and brushed away his tears with her thumbs.

“Oh baby, I can take the pain away.” She planted kisses all over his neck as she snuck a cold hand underneath his shirt and he shuddered involuntarily.

The door at the top of the stairs was blasted out of its frame, making the woman jump. 

Peter heard the familiar sound of repulsors charging up.

“Get your hands off my kid you bitch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that I never said what my update schedule is going to be in the last chapter, but it doesn't matter because i've decided not to make one. I would be very bad at keeping it. I usually update every couple of days anyway unless i'm going away for a trip, and I will say when I am going on one so you don't have to worry. 
> 
> thanks for reading!


	12. Run for your life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had decided that he wouldn’t be able to carry Peter, _and_ protect him while he was in the ironman suit, so he kept it on sentry mode as he swept Peter into his arms and followed it up the stairs. 
> 
> He had told F.R.I.D.A.Y to lead them out the same way that he came in. He didn’t want to risk getting lost. He had learned for himself on the way in that this place was a giant maze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I would just remind you all that this story is very medically inaccurate!!
> 
> Ugggh so much angst is in this chapter... have fun!

Tony had never been so angry in all his life.

When he heard voices behind a locked door, and F.R.I.D.A.Y had alerted him of two life forms, he had been expecting to find some of the terrorists at last, or maybe even some junkies.

Not this shit.

Peter sat limp in his restraints as a woman lovingly cradled his head in her hands and cooed at him quietly. She picked up the hem of Peters shirt and slid a hand underneath, while Peters face grew more wet.

He knew what sexual assault looked like and immediately saw red. 

“Get your hands off my kid you bitch.” 

When she jumped and looked up at him with a satisfying look of terror, Tony shot her directly in her stupid face. 

Her body snapped to the side upon impact and she let out a scream of pain as Tony marched towards her. He seized the back of her neck and tore her off of Peter with so much force she went flying backwards, hitting the ground hard. 

He knew she wasn’t going to get back up, but he still shot her again. Just for fun. 

A voice in his head told him not to kill her, that they could still use her for information purposes.

He lowered his hand slowly. 

Fine, he thought. He’d let Steve handle her when he got there.

“T’ny?” the voice was timid, and weak.

Peter.

He stepped out of his suit after putting it on sentry mode, and was in front of Peter in seconds. 

“I’m here kiddo, you’re going to be fine.” He hovered his hands over Peters body, not knowing what to do with him first. Tony studied his wet, slack face and glassy, dilated eyes and decided to start by removing his IV. 

Whatever they were giving him was killing the mood. Tony thought Peter would be overjoyed to be rescued at last but the boy hadn’t moved an inch. All he had done was mumble his name once.

“T’ny.” 

Twice.

“You’re alright, i’m here.” He tried his best to gently slide the needle out of Peters arm with shaky hands and succeeded in only drawing a tiny bit of blood. The IV hadn’t been turned off first so the needle continued to leak clear liquid from its tip once it was removed. Tony tossed it to the side with disgust, letting it ooze out onto the floor. 

Peter didn’t wince or say anything throughout the whole ordeal, just sat and watched Tony with glazed eyes that shed more tears every second. 

Tony began undoing his restraints and once Peter was free, he still didn’t move. 

Peter was like a zombie, and it was starting to freak Tony out. 

“C’mere buddy, let’s get you out of here.” He snuck a hand under Peters armpit and behind his back and started to pull him upwards onto his feet with a grunt. Peters head flopped onto Tony's shoulder as he was maneuvered, and his knees buckled under his own weight as soon as Tony had him upright. 

Tony had been expecting this and gently lowered them both to the floor. His kid came to rest limply in his lap with Tony holding him tightly, and keeping his head tucked snugly underneath his chin. He could feel his shirt grow damp as Peters crying increased. 

This was the contact Tony had been longing for for nearly three days. 

The boy that he had stressed over and cried over was finally in his arms at last.

His eyes began to water as the feeling of relief overwhelmed him. Peter didn’t seem to have any obvious, life threatening injuries which hopefully meant that he would be alright. 

At least he would be, as soon they took care of the fact that he was currently drugged up to his eyebrows.

“Tony? Have you found anything yet?” F.R.I.D.A.Y put Steve on speaker, so Tony could hear him outside of the suit.

“Yeah, i’ve got him.” He called back and willed his voice not to crack. “They’ve been injecting him with something so he’s pretty out of it, but I think he’s going to be alright.”

“Ok, we’re a bit more than ten minutes out still. Medical is with us, they say to keep him calm until we can arrive.”

“Alright.”

Tony watched Peter struggle to lift up his arm and slowly reach it towards his chest. He felt fingers weakly entangle themselves into the collar of his shirt and he closed his eyes and let his tears fall too. 

“You’re ok, you’re alright. I’ve got you now.” A stupid smile spread across his face. Peter was going to be fine. 

He held Peter closer to himself and began to rock them gently from side to side as they both cried softly until Peter pulled his head away.

He was too drugged to hold his head up so Tony moved his arm so it could rest in the crook of his elbow. He met Peters eyes.

He looked so lost, and Tony's heart ached. 

“Not… real…” he let his hand that was tenderly gripping Tony's shirt drop to the ground with a smack. 

Tony was taken aback. Did Peter not think that he was really there?

“Peter i’m here, i’m real.” he reached for his fallen hand and gripped it tightly, holding it up so it was in Peters line of sight. 

“S’in my head…” he closed his eyes, and turned his face away, burrowing it into the warmth of Tonys chest instead. “... get out… s’not real…” Peter whined and sluggishly began to try to pull his hand from Tonys. 

“Peter stop.” he refused to let Peters hand go, instead bringing it up to rest on the side of his face and holding it there with his own. Peters eyes snapped open at the contact, and they glanced back up in confusion and distrust. “I’m real, and i’m not leaving you.” 

Tony felt as if he was watching Peters internal battle when he looked into his eyes. 

On the plus side, Tony noticed that they were gradually becoming less glassy, and more focused.

“You… you’re really… really here?” 

“Yeah kiddie. You can’t shake me that easily.” he said with a soft chuckle. 

“M’sorry.” Tony frowned at that.

“What’re you sorry for?”

“I don’t know… you’re crying so I… so I thought…” Tony removed Peters hand from his face. It was wet. He forgot he had been crying. 

“You thought you did something wrong?” Peter nodded shyly and Tony placed their hands in his lap with a sigh. “I’m just happy to have you back.”

“Oh… me too.” Tony smiled again and Peter let his eyes close and relaxed into his hold. 

Tony had just begun to stroke Peters messy hair back into place when the kids eyes suddenly shot open and he began to squirm and struggle from his hold, his breaths coming in panicked gasps. 

“Gotta get out.” Peter was on the verge of hyperventilating and Tony instinctively tightened his hold, making the kid struggle more.

Is this what the med team was warning him about?

“Peter-” Tony was cut off when a fist came up and bopped him in the nose, none too gently. He was momentarily distracted but quickly retaliated by grabbing a tight hold of Peters forearm (not his very purple wrist).

“Gotta get out..”

“Peter, calm down.” Peters eyes were darting all around the room, and he was left panting as his struggles died down. “Look at me buddy, you have to calm down now. Just breathe.” His words were falling on deaf ears.

“Gotta get out of here… she-she said… she said she… s-she…” Tony realized that Peter was trying to tell him something that he thought was urgent but he kept tripping over his words in his panic to tell him what it was. 

Tony released Peters forearm and cupped his face with his hand, in an attempt to gain his focus. When his eyes settled on his face he spoke, trying to come across as calm even though he was freaking out too.

“What did she say?” There were so many questions he wanted to ask Peter, but he figured he shouldn’t bombard him in this state. 

“She’s gonna… sh-she…”

“Shhhh, Peter. Take a deep breath.” Peter did as he was told. “That’s good kiddo.”

“She’s gonna… she’s gonna blow up the factory…”

“Who said that Peter? Who is _she_?”

“Magda.”

Oh shit. 

 

He had decided that he wouldn’t be able to carry Peter, _and_ protect him while he was in the ironman suit, so he kept it on sentry mode as he swept Peter into his arms and followed it up the stairs. 

He had told F.R.I.D.A.Y to lead them out the same way that he came in. He didn’t want to risk getting lost. He had learned for himself on the way in that this place was a giant maze. 

After the second flight of stairs Tony's arms were already growing tired, and his back was beginning to ache. Peter seemed to notice his struggle because he started to wiggle in his hold again.

“I can walk.” His voice was still weak, and Tony furrowed his brow in worry.

“No you can’t.”

“Put me down and let me prove it.” Tony let out a sharp exhale and stopped walking, letting the suit carry on its path by itself.

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes… just help me.” He added the last part quietly, Tony recognized his tone of voice to be embarrassment. 

“Ok.” He breathed, reluctantly letting Peters legs slide out from his grasp and gently lowering them to the ground. When he was sure Peter wasn’t going to collapse he snagged his arm and slung it over his shoulder. He used his other arm to hold Peters waist securely, and they began to make their way forward again.

“This is so weird.” Peter croaked from beside him, and Tony huffed a laugh.

“What is?”

“This position. It’s usually the other way around.” Tony raised an eyebrow down at him as they continued to shuffle forwards. 

“What do you mean?”

“Well, usually it’s you who always puts your arm over-” Peter stopped abruptly as the first explosive went off. The sound was like a drum in the distance and it carried along the pipes surrounding them. Like vibrations in a spiders web. The ground beneath their feet rumbled and the two unconsciously held each other tighter, not ready to lose each other again so soon. “...my shoulders.”

The sound had come from in front of them, from the direction that they had been heading. 

Tony walked them both backwards a few paces.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y?!” He hollered. The suit had disappeared around a corner right before the explosion happened and hadn’t come back around yet. “Shit.”

Either she didn’t hear him, or the explosion was a lot closer than Tony thought and she had been destroyed.

If that was the case, Tony didn’t care. He had plenty of more suits at the tower.

His priority was getting Peter out of there, safe and sound.

He spun them around so fast that he caught Peter unaware and he stumbled to his knees, threatening to pull Tony down on top of him. 

“C’mon…” He grunted as he pulled Peter back to his feet beside him, and hoisted his arm farther across his shoulders for good measure. 

“M’sorry… just got a little dizzy.” His head hung low on his chest but he kept managing to place one foot in front of the other as Tony led him down the other side of the hallway. 

“It’s fine, we just have to keep moving.” another explosion went off, this time closer to them and Tony picked up their pace. 

They kept stumbling down different hallways while explosions kept going off behind them, each time getting closer and closer to them.

Adrenaline boosted Peters strength and he was able to run alongside Tony as he led him through many different passageways and corridors, never once letting go of each others hands. 

They turned one last corner to find a set of double doors. Tony stopped to stare in disbelief at the sight. They were slightly cracked open, and if Tony looked upwards he could see the night sky.

He didn’t think that they were ever going to find a way out, but there it was, 10 feet in front of them. 

He tugged on Peters arm carefully and the boy complied, following him forward when one last explosion went off. 

It was too close this time. 

The force of the explosion threw them forwards and out the door. 

Fire licked Tonys back, and singed the hair on the nape of his neck as he was sent flying through the air. 

He landed hard on his shoulder and tried his best to roll with the impact, but still felt spikes of pain when he collided with more cement. 

As his rolling came to a stop, he became content with the idea of just laying on the ground for a while so he could catch his breath. 

He quickly sat up with a yelp as he realized the leg of his pants was on fire. He kicked at it with his other leg and franticly rolled around some more, eventually putting it out. 

He flopped on his back and looked up at the night sky as he tried to control his breathing. 

They were in a very old warehouse with cracked, and crumbling cement walls, and a glass ceiling. Panels of glass had cracked and fallen in over time, leaving the cement flooring underneath scattered with shards of glass of various sizes.

He was lucky he didn’t get any stuck into his body when he was thrown in. He seemed to be uninjured from the explosion, except for some burns. 

He was very lucky. 

He hoped Peter was alright too.

Peter. 

He sat bolt upright with a gasp, whipping his head around in search of his missing kid and spotting him a few feet away from him.

Peter lay on his back, head tilted towards Tony.

His eyes were closed.

He wasn’t moving. 

“Peter!” he screamed as he stumbled to his feet. Peter blinked open his eyes groggily as Tony approached him.

As Tony got closer to Peter he scanned him over for any injuries and found one.

A chunk of metal, roughly the size of Tony's hand, had been impaled into Peter's thigh. 

Tony dropped to his knees beside Peters injury. He didn’t know how deep it went, and didn’t want to pull it out incase it had nicked his femoral artery. A lot of blood had already seeped out of the wound, staining Peters pant leg and painting the cement underneath himself dark red. 

He felt his face blanch, and he held his hands over top of Peters wound as if he had the magic ability to heal wounds on site. 

“Mr. Stark… what’s wrong?” Tony was at a loss for words as he watched Peter pick himself up and support his upper body on his elbows as if nothing had happened. His eyes traveled downwards to his wounded leg and his mouth dropped open at the sight. “Oh.” 

“Yeah. ‘Oh’ is how I would describe it too kiddo.” He hated how much his voice shook.

He was confused… could Peter not feel that? It looked extremely painful yet Peter hadn’t made a sound. His kid dropped back onto his back, eyes fluttering closed for a moment before reopening.

He reached out a tentative hand and pinched Peters arm tightly.

Peter didn’t even look down. 

Something was very wrong.

Another explosion went off, but farther away.

It was still close enough to cause the wall next to them to crack and groan, and the ground to shake again. Some of the panels of glass on the ceiling fell down and smashed around them and Tony threw himself over Peters body protectively. 

When the glass stopped falling Tony took off his sweater and wrapped it tightly around Peters thigh, in an attempt to stop the bleeding. 

The wall next to them groaned again.

“What’re you doing?” Peter asked without a trace of pain in his voice.

“Gotta stop the bleeding on your leg… or did you forget about the big piece of metal in there?” He didn’t look up from what he was doing, instead working faster as the wall cracked again.

“Didn’t forget… just doesn’t hurt.” Tony tied one last knot around Peters makeshift bandage just to be safe, before offering him a hand up. Peter took it and stood up slowly with Tonys help, distributing even weight on both legs. 

Tony pulled one of Peters arms over his shoulder again and started to pull him away from the wall that was groaning dangerously now. As they moved away from it Tony noticed that it wasn’t connected to the ceiling any longer, and the cracks along the bottom had stretched considerably since he last noticed them. 

Tony realized much too late that it was about to topple over. 

He froze in his steps and Peter noticed what was happening too. 

The wall groaned again and wobbled precariously in their direction.

Before Tony could react, two hands grabbed him and pushed him backwards hard. He tripped over his feet and landed on his ass out of reach from the danger of the falling wall. 

He looked up to see Peter regard him with sad, remorseful eyes, before he turned sideways and caught the wall over his head, the weight of it bringing him to his knees.

“PETER NO!” He climbed back to his feet and Peter turned his head in his direction.

“GO!” his voice was strained, as was his face.

“NO!” He ran back over to his kid, underneath the cracking concrete. Peters strength was giving out, he could see it in his eyes. “Godammit Peter, I am _not_ leaving you.”

Peters arms were trembling with the weight, and his eyes filled with tears. Tony placed his hands on his face in comfort. 

“Dad please…” 

Tony wrapped his arms around him as his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed into his embrace for the last time. 

Then, he waited.

For their inevitable death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been in a really bad headspace lately... could use some encouragement


	13. Don't leave me alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He tried his best to rub the drying blood off Peters face with the corner of his shirt, steadily growing more concerned when there was still no reaction from the boy. He checked his pulse and still found one, but it was obviously weaker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAA i'm sorry this was so late! As I get closer to the end of this story I stop wanting to write idk why I just hate endings. Also I keep getting distracted with all these new story ideas floating around in my head and the thought of school starting again soon just shuts my brain off.
> 
> So yeah. Did I say I was sorry, because sorry!
> 
> This chapter also turned out to be really dramatic so sorry again I don't know where that came from.

He held Peters body close to his own, squeezing his eyes shut and breathing in his scent one last time before they met their fate. 

But it never came.

The wall never touched Tony where he crouched in fear and anticipation. 

He didn’t dare move, believing that one wrong change in position could cause the wall to crush him and Peter. 

However, he raised his head slightly when there was a soft grunt from behind him. 

“Tony get out of there!” His eyes snapped open and he turned his head to see Steve Rogers supporting the wall on top of his shoulder, his muscles tense under the pressure. 

Tony didn’t need to be told twice. 

In his awkward crouched position he couldn’t carry Peter out safely. So, he quickly but gently laid Peter down before sticking his hands in his armpits and pulling him out backwards, an ugly smear of blood trailing after them.

He pulled Peter out far enough that Steve could let the wall drop with a loud thud. 

Tony softly dropped Peter back onto the cold floor. He crouched down beside his head, his hand automatically reaching for Peters neck in search of a pulse. 

He felt a weak but steady thrum under his fingertips and rolled off the balls of his feet and onto his butt with a sigh. 

Peter was still alive.

“Rendezvous on my location. I’ve got Stark and Peter…” Tony glanced up to see Steve observe the smear of blood that had followed Peters unconscious body when Tony had dragged him across the floor. It looked almost like a paint brush stroke. “The kid needs immediate medical attention.” 

Tony scooched himself closer to Peter's head as Steve strided over to them, stopping at Peters wounded leg and kneeling beside it. Tony picked up Peters head and placed it in his lap, resting one hand comfortingly on Peters cheek, the other brushing his messy hair away from his forehead. 

“Tony what happened?” Steve asked, seriousness masking his concern but Tony knew it was there. “I thought you said he was alright?”

Steve was poking at the sweater that was wrapped around Peters thigh. It was supposed to be stopping the bleeding but it wasn’t working anymore. Blood had soaked his sweater entirely and was seeping through it and onto the floor.

“He was. He’s got a large chunk of shrapnel in his leg… I didn’t want to pull it out yet, I don’t know how deep it goes.” Steve started to undo the knots in the sweater, revealing the injury. When he saw it he brought a hand up to his mouth and turned away for a second. “I tried to stop the bleeding… that’s all I could do I didn’t have much time.”

“It’s alright Tony, you did all you could.” He stopped to take a deep breath. “We have to put pressure on it now though, or he could bleed out soon… at this rate anyway.” They met each others eyes.

“I know.” 

Steve balled up Tonys saturated sweater and wrapped it around the intrusion in Peters leg. He put his hands on top of it all and pushed down firmly.

Tony tried his best to ignore the horrible squelching sound that accompanied the motion. 

Instead, he kept his focus on Peters relaxed face.

It was unnerving to see him so quiet. 

So pale.

So still.

He removed his hand from Peters face with the intention of checking his pulse again, but froze at the sight of blood on Peters cheek now too. 

That wasn’t there before.

He flipped his hand over to see a small cut on his palm.. It probably happened during the explosions and he just hadn’t noticed it yet. 

He tried his best to rub the drying blood off Peters face with the corner of his shirt, steadily growing more concerned when there was still no reaction from the boy. He checked his pulse and still found one, but it was obviously weaker. 

“How did you find us in time?” He needed Steve to distract him, needed something different to think about other than the thought that Peter was going to die in his arms.

“When we lost your signal we thought the worst… but when we got here and saw the explosions, I knew there was still a chance you were alive.” Tony watched Steve as he kept pressure on Peters thigh, never once looking up as he told his story. “So, I had the med team stay in the quinjet, out of harm's way, and sent everyone else to circle the perimeter, to find any exits in case you came out of one. I was in search of one myself when I heard you yelling.” 

“And you came…” Steve looked up at Tony at last.

“Of course. You sounded like you were in trouble.” Tony let out a humourless laugh.

“How noble of you.” 

Steve didn’t respond to that, instead putting his focus back on Peters leg.

Tony's eyes were drawn back to Peters face. It had already lost more colour in the seconds that their conversation had taken. 

He felt his eyes begin to water but he held them back. He wasn’t going to let Steve see him cry over some kid.

But this kid was Peter.

And Peter was dying.

He checked his pulse again and this time it was harder to find. But it was still there, and so that’s what Tony hung onto.

His lifeline. 

“The med team will be here any minute Tony, he’s going to be fine.” 

No he wasn’t.

Because this was Tony's worst nightmare.

This was all his fault. 

Something snapped inside him and a strangled sob escaped his throat, his body curling in on itself. His head hung over Peters chest as his tears squeezed their way through his clenched eyelids as if nothing was there to stop them. 

He couldn’t stop himself.

He knew he was crashing from the adrenaline, but his feelings still remained. 

More sobs wracked his frame, soundless due to the fact that they couldn’t get past the knot it his throat. Making the ordeal physically painful as well as emotionally.

“Tony…” Steve's voice was quiet, gentle even. Tony didn’t doubt that he must be a little freaked out at this turn of events. He was pretty sure Steve had never seen him cry before, let alone completely lose it. 

He tried to pull his facial expression back into an impassive one, but it was too late. Steve had seen past his facade already. 

Tony didn’t care anymore.

He tried to control his breathing. Inhaling and exhaling in intervals that he had F.R.I.D.A.Y teach him a long time ago. 

It was somewhat soothing.

He reached out shaking fingers and latched them onto Peters wrist. He picked it up and brought Peters lax fingers to his lips, closing his eyes and just breathing.

If this was to be goodbye… 

Peter let out a startled gasp and opened his eyes, his body jack-knifing. His sudden movement catching the two men off guard briefly before he collapsed backwards into Tony's lap. 

“W-where…” Tony put his hands on Peters shoulders as Steve tried to regain his hold on Peters leg. 

“Shhhh Peter, i’m here.” He cupped his face with a hand, and rubbed his chest with the other. Peter was starting to shiver.

“S’dark… so, so dark…” Peters head was weakly tossing from side to side and his eyes roamed the room as if he was following invisible movements. “... they won’ leave me ‘lone…” 

“Peter. Shhh kiddo, i’m right here.” He didn’t know what else to say. He kept rubbing his chest and shoulders as Peters shivers got worse. Eventually, his eyes found Tony's face.

“T’ny.” 

“Yep.” He flashed Peter a watery smile. 

“They’re so loud…” his voice was breathy, and Tony noted that his chest was rising and falling a lot less then it should be. “...where ’m I?” 

“You’re with me.” Peter just stared at him, devoid of expression and blinking slowly. “How do you feel buddy?” 

“Feel… good.” 

“You feel good?” Tony was confused but went with it. He knew that Peter was suffering from the blood loss and drugs.

“So good.” 

“Hey! They’re in here!” A man shouted from the doorway to the warehouse. His back was facing away from them and he was waving frantically at people Tony couldn’t see. He recognized his uniform, and relaxed. 

The medical team had finally arrived.

Tony closed his eyes and let out a breath. When he opened them back up he realized that Peter had done the same, only he didn’t open them again. 

“C’mon kiddie, you can’t fall asleep now.” He shook Peters shoulders but there was no response. “Peter?” He stopped shaking him and took a long look at his kids unnaturally still form.

He wasn’t shivering anymore.

He wasn’t breathing either. 

“Pete?” his brain lost its ability to function and he just sat. 

He was numb.

Chaos erupted around him in random bursts of colour and light, but Tony couldn’t focus on any of it.

Voices were shouting all around him but he couldn’t hear. 

He couldn’t feel anything, other than the pressure building in his chest. 

Strong, wet hands wrapped around his biceps and pulled him away from the scene, snapping him back to reality, and he struggled to free himself.

“Let go of me!” he growled, but the grip on him just got tighter and he struggled more.

“Tony, you need to stop!” Steve picked him up and turned them both around so their backs were to Peter and the medical team.

“That's my kid!” Steve dropped him on his feet and put a bloodied hand on his chest before he could run back over to Peters side. 

“Tony you need to calm down, and let them work!” He pushed Steves hand off him with a snarl. “They’re going to fix him, but you _have to let them work_.” 

“I know, godammit, but he needs me!” He stepped out from Steve's side, as he was too short to peek over his shoulder. 

There were people all over Peter. Some were preparing IV’s, and getting a stretcher ready to carry Peter on. Others were bustling around Peter, shouting things at each other that he didn’t quite understand. 

All the while Peter lay unconscious on the floor, an oxygen mask on his face being held in place by one of the medical staff, his leg swathed in temporary bandages. 

Tony took a step forward wringing his hands together nervously. He wanted nothing more than to be at Peters side, but a firm pressure on his shoulder held him back. 

“Tony…” Steve warned.

“I know.” His glanced down at Steve's stained hand in annoyance. 

Stained. 

With Peters blood. 

Steve withdrew his hand immediately when he noticed what Tony was staring at. He placed his hands behind his back, and Tony brought his attention back to Peter.

They had placed him on the stretcher and had started to carry him towards the exit. Tony and Steve followed after them and onto the quinjet, where they placed Peter on a metal table. 

When they took off, a woman on the med team stepped away from Peter and came over to Tony.

“Mr. Stark, you said that they had been injecting him with something, do you know what it was?” Her voice was steady, and calming amidst the mayhem. 

“No, i’m sorry I didn’t have time to check… I don’t think the bag was labeled anyway.” 

“That’s alright. Did you see what colour it was? Or maybe it’s transparency?” Tony thought back to when he pulled the needle out of Peters arm.

“It was colourless, and clear… looked almost like water.” 

“Ok.” she nodded at him. “One more question Mr. Stark, Peters going to need a blood transfusion, do you-”

“We have roughly two pints of his blood at the tower already.” he answered her question before she could ask it.

“Hopefully that will be enough, thank you Mr. Stark.” She turned around and briskly walked away, leaving him to stand alone in silence. 

 

Tony was restless, and couldn’t stand still. He spent the rest of the flight pacing and chewing the skin around his nails until finally, the medical team deemed Peter stable enough that Tony could stand by his side and hold his hand. 

The next 30 minutes passed in a blur to Tony. 

The quinjet touched down, and Peter was whisked away from him again. The last piece of Peter that Tony got to see was his glassy eyes opening and gazing up at him. 

Then he was gone.

He heard someone say something about surgery. That the skin around the metal in his leg had already started to heal around it, so it needed to be taken out immediately. 

He figured that that didn’t seem unlikely. So he wandered through his many hallways until he found the waiting room where he sat in a chair, playing with his thumbs.

Alone. 

“Sir, Miss Potts is asking for you. Do you want me to give her your location?” F.R.I.D.A.Y broke him from his train of thought, as she often did.

“Uh yeah. Tell her- tell her about the uh…” He waved his hand around in the air as he tried to think of the words he wanted to say. 

“About the situation boss?”

“Yeah that.” he sagged in his seat, exhaustion seeping into his bones. 

“Of course boss. You also have a text message from May Parker.”

Shit. He had forgotten about May. She still didn’t know about anything. 

He pulled out his phone and opened his text messages.

_May: Hi Tony! My flight home has been delayed until tomorrow :’( I’m sorry to ask but could Peter stay another night?_

He sighed and texted her back.

 _Tony: Definitely! I can’t get enough of the little stinker._

_May: lol I knew you wouldn’t mind. Thank you so much! Also did something happen to Peters phone?? I haven’t been able to get ahold of him._

He wasn’t sure how to respond. She had to find out about Peter's situation somehow, and she deserved to know more than anyone. Tony had been avoiding her long enough.

_Tony: Yeah, about that… could you call me ASAP? There’s something we need to talk about._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shuri will be back again in the next chapter!


	14. Am I dreaming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Peter... ” The woman's voice was back, and a gentle pressure was placed on his forearm. He spun around and was met with a dark silhouette of a person standing in front of him. They had no face or features of any sort, but deep down Peter knew who it was. “...it’s me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so the last chapter was total garbage so I took a little break to recenter myself  
> I'm not going to rewrite it cuz i'm lazy I guess.
> 
> 2-4 chapters left boys and girls wohoo  
> so much could happen still tho soo....

“Look May, you might want to sit down…” 

“Wha-why Tony?” Her voice broke at the end of his name. Tony could hear the worry and confusion poking holes in her composure. “Oh god, please don’t tell me anything bad… you’re going to tell me something bad aren’t you.” 

She had called him almost instantly after he texted her, and Tony was realizing that he was unprepared to talk to her. He was beginning to think that he shouldn’t have waited so long to inform her about Peters situation. He had dug himself his own grave and now… she was about to bury him alive.

“May please, you have to promise me that you’ll stay calm.” 

“I-what!? Stay calm? Dear God Tony, whatever remnants of calmness I had disappeared with your last sentence.” Tony swallowed in apprehension. May sounded like she was on the verge of having a full fledge freakout. “Now tell me what the hell is going on.”

“Right, i’ll just cut to the chase then.” He pressed his lips together and took a steady breath. “Peter was taken. Some people wanted money from me so they had him for a couple of days, but i’ve got him back now so everything _should_ be-”

“HE WAS WHAT!?” Tony pulled his phone away from his ear slightly. “You mean to tell me that my son-my... Peter, was fucking kidnapped?” Her voice had quieted significantly. Tony listened to the background noises and deduced that she wasn’t in a private area. “For what, days? Oh my god is he ok? Can I talk to him? How long was he even gone for?” She was starting to ramble. 

“A couple of days… about three.” He started to answer her questions as she paused for a breath.

“Three?” Her voice was a high pitched whisper. “What the _fuck_ , oh my god.” Tony looked up as Pepper walked into the waiting room, a look of relief on her face when she laid eyes on him.

“May, calm down… it was more like two and a half at least.” Pepper came and sat beside him.

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds and Tony _knew_ he had said the wrong thing. 

He cringed when May exploded from the other side of the phone. She was spitting curses and profanities Tony didn’t dare mutter out loud. He tried with exasperation to cut her off and calm her down but it was no use.

He felt a gentle hand begin to rub the tenseness out of his shoulder and turned to see Pepper regarding him with a light smile on her face. He brought the phone down to sit against his chest, Mays angry protest being muffled by his shirt.

“What? You got something to add now?” he asked, clearly irritated. Pepper just laughed and shook her head lightly.

“After all this time you’ve spent with me you’d think that you would’ve learned how to talk to women.” She moved her hand from his shoulder to the back of his head to flatten some stray hairs, before reaching it out, palm up. “I’ll talk to her Tones, you need to get some rest anyway.” 

He would have liked to say that he gave Pepper the phone reluctantly, but in reality he handed it over like a hot potato. He had never been more grateful for Pepper, and her way with words. 

“May? May. Hi, this is Pepper Potts, we’ve met a couple of times before…” Tony made to stand up but Pepper grabbed his hand and held him back. She moved the phone away from her ear and pulled his arm so he was bending down closer to her. “Go get some sleep. F.R.I.D.A.Y will tell me if you don’t… oh Peter’s told you about me? That’s so sweet.” The phone was back to her ear again, and he was left smiling at her.

“You’re an angel.” he murmured in her ear before giving her a quick peck on the cheek. She squeezed his hand tightly once more as he got up and left. 

He didn’t really want to sleep. 

He didn’t even know if he could with all of the things going on in his mind, but as he made it closer to his bedroom the idea of it was slowly becoming more appealing. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he had slept and his body was increasingly becoming overwhelmed with the desire for it. 

By the time he reached his room he was a stumbling mess, his lack of sleep finally catching up to the rest of his body. The chance of tripping over his own feet had grown to the point that he was a threat to himself.

He managed to arrive safely. Shutting the door behind him, he promptly kicked off his shoes and socks, before hopping onto his bed and burying his face into the pillows. 

He barked one last command at F.R.I.D.A.Y before he allowed himself to pass out. His body was much more at peace now that Peter was back at last. 

After the AI responded, reassuring him that she would wake him up as soon as there was any news on Peter, did he finally embrace the sweet arms of darkness like a long lost lover. 

 

Peters dreams were haunted by the shadows of people he lost. 

He dreamt of a dark place. 

The walls around him were large and expansive. They extended around him in the shape of a perfect square, large enough so he didn’t feel trapped or imprisoned, but small enough that he felt their presence looming over him. 

He stood in the center of it all. 

Up near the top of the walls something was gleaming against the darkness. Like glass or maybe… windows. 

He was in a warehouse altered by his imagination. 

The walls seamlessly connected with each other and the floor. They were smooth and flat with no incisions or markings, or doors. Meaning there was no exit but Peter didn’t mind. He was at peace, and wasn’t ready to leave yet. 

“Peter…” somebody whispered from behind him, startling him, and he turned around. It sounded like a woman calling his name.

No one was there.

“Hello?” He called to the darkness and waited for a response. “Is anyone there?” 

“Peter!” The voice sounded like it was trying to warn him. It was different this time too, deeper and more masculine. It came from behind him again but when he turned around there was still no one there. 

His heart was starting to hammer, he was so confused.

“PETER!” hands grabbed onto his shoulders and he jumped and turned around as a deep boom sounded from outside the walls.

There was still nobody there. 

Orange flame light lit up the windows from the outside, casting its warmth through them and onto his surroundings, adding definition to the shadows. 

Shadows made by objects that weren’t there.

No.

The shadows were being cast by people he couldn’t see. 

He was blaming the fire from outside for the ‘objects’ movements so he didn’t notice it straight away. The shadows were moving and walking in ways that only humans could replicate. 

They were standing scattered all around him in various places, all moving or shifting at some point except for one that stood directly in front of him. It was the only one that hadn't moved at all. 

“Peter.” The voice had come from the shadow in front of him. It had sounded much clearer and more familiar, but Peter couldn’t pin a name or face to it. 

He took a step back in fear. Why couldn’t he see anyone? 

Something else caught his attention- a lack of something… why didn’t he have a shadow?

The temperature in the room had risen and Peters skin was starting to itch from the dryness of the heat. 

“Who are you?” he called out to the vacant room. “Why can’t I see you?” Peter managed to keep his voice steady against his rising panic. 

“Peter... ” The woman's voice was back, and a gentle pressure was placed on his forearm. He spun around and was met with a dark silhouette of a person standing in front of him. They had no face or features of any sort, but deep down Peter knew who it was. “...it’s me.”

“Mom…” He didn't move, he was afraid to touch her. Instead she reached out a hand and hovered it beside his cheek. She tilted her head and regarded him. Peter got the feeling that she was upset, and it was his fault.

“Honey you shouldn’t be here.” She closed her fist and brought it back down to her side. She had sounded afraid and he frowned in confusion. He didn’t even know where ‘here’ was. 

“What do you mean?” 

“It’s not your time…” 

“Peter, you need to leave.” The man spoke again and Peter turned back around, finally recognizing the voice. He hadn’t heard it in years. 

Ben had been standing directly behind him, he was the one who had cast the unmoving shadow- who was still casting the unmoving shadow. 

“Uncle Ben, wha-”

“You have to leave _now_ ” Bens voice sounded dangerous. He was scared, for Peter. 

“I wha- I don’t understand… aren’t I dreaming?” Peter was starting to panic too, and his mother held onto his hand comfortingly.

“No Peter…” She sounded broken, close to crying. “...you’re dying.” She let go of his hand and pushed him away. “You have to leave.” 

Peter stumbled forward unwillingly from the force of her push. He was so confused. They wanted him to leave but there was no way out. Even if he did manage to get out of the warehouse, where would he go? The fire outside was growing hotter every second.

Peter wanted to stay with his family.

He looked around at the shadows decorating the floor. Some had morphed into silhouettes like his uncle and mother, but they were still faceless souls and it frightened him. 

He tried to swallow his fear. His mother said that it wasn’t his time and Peter decided to believe her. If he really was dying then he should keep fighting while he still could.

He still had so much to live for. 

As much as he missed his family, he still had friends and his aunt waiting for him to wake up again. 

He wasn’t going to let them down.

“How?” He asked but was met with silence. “How can I leave when there’s no way out?” His uncle pointed to something over his shoulder.

“There’s always a way out.” He looked back and saw a door. It was waiting for him cracked open slightly, and flames licked at the corners though they never entered the building. “You couldn’t see it before because you didn’t want to.” 

“Thank you.” He looked back towards his uncle and mother with gratitude. They were still protecting him from beyond the grave.

“Now go.” Ben nodded towards him. “The door is almost shut.”

He didn’t dare ask what that meant, instead taking off and sprinting towards the door. 

When he arrived he took a breath and placed his hands on the flaming door, only to find it to be surprisingly cool. He pushed against it with all his strength, his arms trembling with the pressure until it grudgingly creaked open. 

He stared into the abyss in front of him in awe until something pulled on his chest, pitching him forward into the darkness.

 

“...heartbeat detected…”

“...vital signs returning!”

“I think he’s awake...”

“Welcome back to the land of the living Mr. Parker.” 

 

“Boss… Sir… Sir.” Tony groaned in response. Why was F.R.I.D.A.Y waking him up? Maybe he fell asleep in the workshop again, that would explain why his neck was so sore. 

He opened his eyes and rolled onto his back, realizing that he was on his bed.

“Whatcha need Fri?” He rubbed his hands over his face. That was the best sleep he’d had for a while.

“You asked me to wake you as soon as there were any updates on Peter.”

“Peter?” Then it hit him like a tidal wave. “Shit. Peter.” He scrambled out of his bed to put his shoes back on, quickly adjusting his clothes and fixing his hair before he was up and out the door. He strided down the hallway and into the elevator. “Fill me in, what’s happening?”

“Peter has recently come out of surgery and has been moved into the private quarters that you requested he be sent to-”

“I requested him private quarters?” he didn’t remember that.

“Yes. Dr. Cole says that Peter is allowed visitors but she requests that you meet with her before you do to go over Peter's injuries.”

“Alright, and she is?”

“The surgeon who operated on Peter.” He nodded his head in acknowledgement. 

As he waited for the elevator to arrive he pat down his pockets in search of his phone so he could check the time. It took him a moment to remember that he had left it with Pepper and so he checked his watch instead.

It was just after midnight. He had been asleep for almost three hours but already felt revived. It’s amazing what naps can do.

He found himself back in the empty waiting room. Pepper was nowhere in sight. 

He was buzzing with energy and didn’t want to sit. So, he stood in the middle of the room awkwardly with his hands in his pockets awaiting the arrival of the surgeon.

It was a few minutes before the tall woman entered the room. 

“Mr Stark.” His back was to her when she walked in and he jumped around to face her. She offered him her hand and a kind smile.

“Hi.” He greeted as he shook her hand. He tried to smile but it felt uncomfortable so he let it slide. 

“I’m Dr. Cole, I operated on Peter, as you may know.” He nodded at her so she could continue. “Would you mind if we walked and talked? I’m sorry, I just had almost an entire pot of coffee-”

“It’s fine.” He gestured a hand to the hallway and they made their way down it together.

“So first things first, Peter has lost quite a bit of blood but he is going to be alright. The shrapnel in his leg had managed to put a small incision in his femoral artery, and if you had removed it he would have bled out long before we could’ve saved him.” Tony felt some stress float off of his shoulders, knowing that he had done the right thing. “As you know, we had to go into surgery to remove the intrusion in his leg. Once it was removed, the artery healed on its own but, we found smaller pieces of shrapnel alongside the main one that were more difficult to remove due to his mutations.” 

“His healing factor?” Tony didn’t like hearing Peters abilities being described that way. He didn’t know why, it just sounded like an insult to him.

“Yes that. Once we started to give him fluids he became stronger and started to heal twice as fast, which led to me having to reopen incisions multiple times, which led to Peter losing more blood, which eventually led to a flatline.”

“What?” Peter had died?

“Yes I… I don’t know how to explain it. We _had_ lost him. His heart had stopped, we got the defibrillator out and everything but there was no result. Then suddenly he was just back.”

“Are you serious?” She nodded. Tony was a mix of emotions. Happy that Peter had ultimately pulled through, confused as to what happened, and scared that he almost lost Peter. His thoughts were racing with the commotion.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before… though i’ve never worked on an enhanced individual like Peter before.” She added with a smirk, like Tony should be proud. He was. “I think his healing factor pulled him through in the nick of time.”

“Can I see him now?” he needed to see his kid.

“Yes.” She smiled warmly and began to lead him to Peter's room. “There's one more thing I have to add before you see him. After running some blood samples from him we identified the drug in his system to be ketamine.” They stopped walking and she looked at him with sorry eyes. Tony crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. That was not good news. “It’s a very strong hallucinogen tha-”

“Yes, I know what it is.” He didn’t feel bad for cutting her off.

“Alright.” She nodded slowly. “It should be gone from his system by now, but unfortunately he will have to go through withdrawal. The symptoms aren’t too severe and combined with his metabolism he should be over them in a day or two.” 

Tony wasn’t even looking at her anymore. He wasn’t angry, just… tired. Unfortunately it was coming off as rude.

“His room is this way?” He pointed down the hallway when she was done speaking. 

“Yes. last door on the left.” 

“Thank you.” He turned on his heel and started walking towards it. 

“Oh and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was awake already.” She called after him, he just turned slightly and waved politely. 

The last door on the left of the hall was open and there was light streaming from it. As he got closer he could hear faint talking and laughter. His heart warmed at the sound.

He stepped into the door frame to see Shuri and Peter talking quietly with each other.

Shuri was sitting in a chair beside Peters bed. She was wearing sweatpants and a light t-shirt, and her arm was wrapped in a bright red cast. She was giggling and kept poking at Peter whose upper body was wrapped snugly in a large fluffy blanket. It went up and around his head so just his face was poking out. 

He looked almost like a newborn baby all bundled up like that and Tony laughed at the sight, gaining their attention. 

“Oh hey Mr. Stark.” Peter's voice was hoarse and scratchy. 

“Hey kid.” His face was a wide grin. He couldn’t help himself.

“Shuri made me into a burrito.” 

“I can see that.” he chuckled.

Things were getting better at last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so as I get closer to the end of the story I start thinking of ideas for new fics I wanna write... unfortunately none of them are very original soo if anyone has any suggestions or prompts for me that would be very nice and much appreciated!


	15. Side effects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Peter?” he asked tentatively. When there was no response he stood up and put his hand on Peters shoulder and called his name again. Peter didn’t even spare him a glance so he hit the call button on the side of the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we go another long ass chapter. Hope you likey
> 
> I'm also aiming to wrap up this story up by the 17th chapter (but there is a reallllly good chance of a few extra chaps bc I tend to write more than I originally plan)

“How do you feel buddy?” Tony walked over to the other chair by Peters bed and sat down in it. Shuri sat in the chair on the other side of Peters bed. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and she was playing with Peters blanket with her uninjured hand. She looked exhausted.

Tony didn’t expect anything less. 

“Mmm… tired.” Peter turned his head to look over at Tony. 

Upon closer inspection Peter looked completely drained as well. There were dark bags under his eyes, and his eyelids looked like they were a struggle to hold open.

It made sense. The kid had been in surgery for more than two hours, and had briefly been dead. A regular, unenhanced person wouldn’t even be awake yet.

“Then you should go back to sleep.” He glanced away from Peter to look over at Shuri, who was being uncharacteristically quiet. She had stopped playing with Peters blanket and her hand had disappeared under it, probably holding onto Peters upper arm. She was staring off into space. “We’ll be right here with you kiddo.” he spoke for the both of them, he was sure that Shuri wasn’t planning on leaving Peters side any time soon.

“Ok…” Peter breathed, although his eyes were already shut. Tony had thought that he might have already been sleeping. 

Tony grabbed ahold of Peters hand and began to rub comforting circles into the back of it with his thumb, hoping to soothe the boy into a peaceful slumber, and not one plagued with nightmares. 

He looked up and down Peters now sleeping form. He was connected to a few IV bags, _the good drugs_ he had to keep reminding himself. He was also attached to a variety of machines. Tony knew that they were _very_ important. They were proof that Peter was alive.

His leg was propped up on some pillows and Tony assumed that his thigh was thoroughly wrapped in bandages underneath the thin hospital blanket. 

His arm was basically healed now. The red lines had faded into fine white scars, and all the ugly scabs had fallen off. His arm would be back to normal in no time, Tony was sure of that. 

All that remained of his torture were the dark bruises on his wrists and the many burn marks that were littered all over his body. Tony couldn’t see most of them because they were hidden underneath the blanket Shuri had wrapped him in snugly. 

Someone had even washed him. His hair was obviously cleaner and the dirt and blood was off of his face leaving almost no evidence of the past few days.

His leg would heal soon too and would probably leave a massive scar but even scars will fade with time. Everything does.

Except the memories. 

He will carry those forever.

Tony knew that for a fact. He knew that the memories won’t fade away, that Peter won’t ever forget about what was done to him but it will get easier to handle with time. He would help Peter get through it because _he knew_. He knew what it was like to be held against your will, and to be tortured relentlessly for days on end.

He knew because he had lived it all before, and it’s what made him the man he was now. He was more than willing to help guide Peter through this turmoil if it would keep him from becoming someone else. Something dangerous.

He’d do anything to keep Peter the same.

He was broken out of his thoughts when a small sniffle came from the otherside of the room.

He looked over at Shuri. She was the only person who could have made the noise as they were the two conscious people in the room and Tony hadn’t done it. 

Her arms were folded on Peters bed and her face was buried in her elbows, forehead resting against her cast. Her shoulders rose and fell at an irregular pace so Tony knew she was still awake.

Tony wondered if she was even allowed to be in here. It was getting to be pretty late and there was no way that the doctors were letting her roam around the tower freely. Especially since she had just been rescued after being kidnapped and tortured for three days. She should be in her own bed recovering. 

Tony decided to let it slide. She had been through a lot and if being around Peter comforted her, then he would let it be. Someone was probably looking for her anyway, so there was no need to rush her visit. 

The sniff came again from across the room and he knew that Shuri was the cause of it. He looked closer at her shoulders and noticed that they were shaking slightly.

Tony's heart fell with realization. 

She was crying. _Silently._

His brain started to go into overdrive. He didn’t know how to comfort crying teenagers, but he had to say _something._

“Hey, um. Are you alright?” He asked stupidly. Her head popped up from her arms like she had forgotten that he was there. She gaped at him silently like a deer caught in headlights.

“Yes.” She said simply but her wet eyes told a different story. She hastily wiped at them with her good arm and sniffed once more before leaning back down and resting her chin on her cast. “I will be.” She added quietly. 

“I know it sucks, but things will get better. I’m sorry you had to go through what you did.” She just looked at him with damp eyes and gave him a small watery smile. What he said was not helping and Tony silently cursed at himself. “I’m probably not helping” he gave a short laugh, though there was no humour involved. “I’m sorry, i’m not that great with kids.” he uttered quietly. 

“Don’t you ever say that again.” Her voice was low and her eyes were glued on Peters peaceful face. Tony was speechless. “You are good with him. He adores you.” She ended with a sniff just as a Wakandan woman rushed into the room. 

“Oh Shuri! Budenge umntwana, I have been looking all over for you. What are you doing in here?” She looked frazzled and worried and started to make her way over to where Shuri sat. 

Shuri didn’t make any movements to stand up, instead she buried her face back into her arms and curled her body in on itself as the woman approached her. Her shoulders started to heave and she let out a stuttering breath. 

She was crying again and Tony didn’t know why. He made eye contact with the Wakandan woman as they both searched for answers. She had stopped walking towards Shuri, instead standing at the foot of Peter's bed looking hesitant. 

“I h-had to see if he was al-alright.” Her hand had snuck out from underneath herself to grip Peters arm tightly. “They said he was- that they were g-going to kill him… I-I didn’t see him for half the t-time we were there, I didn’t kn-know what was going on…” 

He looked from Shuri to the Wakandan woman. She seemed to be at a loss for words. He didn’t know what to say either so he decided to take action.

“Ok…” He grunted as he maneuvered his sore body into a standing position. The after effects of being blown up were starting to catch up with him. He walked past the Wakandan woman and to Shuris side, who was crying even harder now. He reached over to her hand and pried it of Peters arm as gently as he could. “He’s going to be ok. C’mon your highness, you need to rest now.” 

He put his other hand on her shoulder and helped her stand up. When she was upright he put his arm around her shoulders, as he often did with Peter, and guided her towards the door where the Wakandan woman had gone to wait for them. She rested her head on his shoulder with a sniff.

He was passing her off to the woman when Shuri stopped and turned back around to look at Peter with panicked eyes.

“Hey, he’s ok. You can see him again in the morning.” He tried to reassure her while simultaneously trying to turn her back around. 

“But I-” she protested.

“I’m going to stay with him. He’s not going to be alone.”

“...ok.” She replied after a few seconds. She _really_ didn’t want to leave Peters side. He understood. 

He gave her a small smile as she was led out of the room. When she was gone he plopped back into his chair by Peters bed with a sigh. 

It was going to be a long night. 

He was starting to feel aches and pains all over his body and he felt disgusting. He hadn’t showered in a while and was now covered in dirt and grease and had dried blood stuck underneath his fingernails. 

He probably should have taken one while Peter was in surgery but he had slept instead. 

He looked around the room. There was a door to the side that probably opened to a washroom. Glancing back down at Peter, he decided that he would quickly leave to go wash his hands and face. He didn’t want to be away from him for too long in case he woke up again.

When he was finished he contemplated asking F.R.I.D.A.Y about what happened to the rest of the team. He decided against it, he didn’t want to risk waking Peter up and the team was probably all resting now anyway. He figured Steve would want to debrief in the morning so he could find out everything that had happened then.

As for now, he was back to waiting.

It was a comfortable wait now though, not like before. Peter was back, and he was going to be alright so Tony was at ease. 

He knew he didn’t have to stay at Peters side, that he could go sleep in his own bed, that he had some of the world's best doctors looking after him. But something akin to guilt and love and comfort kept him in place. 

He _wanted_ to stay. He had searched for this kid for days, and if his reward was watching him sleep, then so be it. Every second he spent with Peter was a reward.

Plus, he had promised Shuri that he would stay. 

So, he pulled his chair closer to Peters beside, wincing when it let out a loud screeching noise. He settled himself into a comfortable position while still keeping contact with Peter and relaxed. 

He got F.R.I.D.A.Y to dim the lights in the room to help Peter sleep better. 

After a few minutes of sitting in the silent, dark room Tony started to become drowsy and he closed his eyes. 

He dozed off. 

 

“...c’mere… Tessa, come…” Peters voice startled him awake. He had slouched over in his sleep and his head had come to rest on Peters bed, his arm awkwardly tucked underneath it, the other dangling at his side. 

“Whatcha need Pete?” He jerked back from his uncomfortable position and started to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

“Bad dog… come here.” Peter mumbled from beside him.

“What?” his eyes snapped open. There was a dog in here? 

Tony looked around the room lit by the sunrise- no dog. 

He looked at Peter in confusion, what was he talking about? The kid in question was looking at the other side of the room, where Shuri had been sitting. His arm was hanging off the bed, reaching for something near the floor and his wrist was flailing around like he was trying to wave someone over.

Or something.

“Peter?” he asked tentatively. When there was no response he stood up and put his hand on Peters shoulder and called his name again. Peter didn’t even spare him a glance so he hit the call button on the side of the bed. 

“Peter come on, talk to me buddy.” He sat on Peters bed and leaned over to grab Peters waving arm. He pulled it over so it was back over the bed and held it close to his chest. Peters eyes followed his arm as it moved and his eyes settled on Tony's face.

“Wha- oh.” he stared at Tony's face blankly with his mouth open. 

“Yeah it’s me. Who were you talking to?” He tried to keep his voice from rising with worry. Peters eyes had started to roam the room as if he was watching something and he moved his head so he was looking over Tony's shoulder. 

“She went somewhere… I can’t see where she went.” Tony looked over his shoulder to double check that there was nothing else in the room with them. When he turned back around Peter was still staring at the same spot with glazed eyes.

“Who went Peter? Your… dog?” Peter didn’t move his eyes from the spot. Tony didn’t know if he had even heard him speak. “Peter?” He waved his hand in front of his eyes. 

Nothing.

He heard footsteps gradually grow louder from outside the door and had already turned to face Dr. Cole before she could walk in.

“Good morning Mr. Stark, what seems to be the problem?” She was incredibly calm compared to Tony's crumbling composure. 

“I don’t know. I think he might be hallucinating.” Her face turned serious and he got up and out of her way as she came over. 

“Peter can you hear me?” She asked as she bent down to look at him closer. She pinched his arm and shone a light in his eyes, before turning away to study the readings on the machines surrounding his bed.

“Hmm?” Peters response was delayed, but he had responded and was looking up at her now.

“Oh, hello Mr. Parker.” She looked down at him in surprise before covering it up with a friendly smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Hi.” Peter blinked up at her, before his eyes started to wander again. Tony had backed himself far enough away that he was near the door now. He crossed his arms over his chest with concern… Peter hadn’t answered her question.

“Are you finding it hard to concentrate Peter?” She sat down on the bed where Tony was just sitting.

“Yes. There's too many- too many people talking.” He broke off with a yawn and his eyes closed for a moment before they reopened. 

“That’s ok, just focus on my voice. I’m your doctor, and i’m just going to check the stitches in your leg so you tell me if anything hurts ok?” She paused, waiting for Peters response.

“You’re really pretty.” was Peter's answer and Tony facepalmed. Cole just laughed and got up to look at Peters leg. 

By the time she was done rebandaging his leg Peter had fallen back asleep. 

“He’s healing nicely.” She stated as she walked back over to him. “I’m thinking only one or two more days of bed rest, then physiotherapy. That’s just a guess too, it’s hard to be certain with his healing factor.” She stood beside him and they both watched Peters sleeping form.

“So he was hallucinating then?” He was searching for confirmation. 

“Definitely. But that’s fine, it’s what we were expecting. I just hope that it doesn’t get worse before it gets better.” 

“Worse?”

“Yes, he’s going to need constant supervision from this point on. He could get restless or agitated and try to get out of bed, or even walk on his leg and reopen his stitches in this state.” She looked up at him expectantly.

“His aunt should get here some time today, until then I can watch him.” He volunteered and she nodded.

“Ok, I have a nurse on hand in case you need extra assistance. He was actually about to make his rounds right before you hit the call button.” She smiled.

“What do I do if- when he starts hallucinating again?” 

“Just do what you did just now. Stay calm, you could try to talk with him if you want. He most likely won’t even respond so don’t worry if he doesn’t. If he gets agitated then hit the call button.” 

“Ok.” There was a stinging sensation on the palm of his hand so he pulled it out from his chest and looked at it. The small cut from the rescue was still there. He had completely forgotten about it. 

“Mr. Stark, has anyone checked you over yet?” She was frowning at the cut on his hand.

“Call me Tony.” He stuffed his hand back under his armpit.

“Fine. _Tony_ , has anyone looked you over yet?” She stepped in front of him with her hands on her hips.

“No, but it’s fine-”

“I’m examining you right now, come on.” She grabbed his elbow and started to pull him towards the door. 

“Hey, you just said that Peter can’t be left alone!” He protested.

“This will take five minutes. I’ll send Charles in to keep an eye on him while we’re out, alright?” He raised his eyebrows at her. “That’s the nurse I have stationed on Peter.”

“Fine.” He didn’t think he had a choice in the matter anyway, she was already pushing him out the door. “Five minutes.” 

 

Peter awoke to the sound of wet shoes squeaking on a tile floor. _God he hated that sound._

He cracked his eyes open to see a slim figure in black clothing walking around in circles at the foot of his bed. He groaned and smushed the blanket that was wrapped around his head farther into his ears to try and block out the noise. 

“Shut up!” he whined and arched his back in misery. “Please!” only when he begged did the person stop.

Their back was to him and he studied their figure. Slim but curvy with short dark hair. A woman. 

Something told Peter that he knew her, and she was not nice.

She turned around slowly from her spot in front of him, head lowered. When she was facing him directly she raised it slowly with an evil glint in her eyes.

Magda was back.

“No!” He sat bolt upright in fear only to drop back down instantly with a yelp of pain. He hissed and grabbed at his leg. It _hurt_. 

“Surprise, Peter!” She bent forward and leaned on the end of his bed with her hands. “Are you happy to see me?” 

“No…” He gasped as his leg throbbed again. He could hear the heart monitor next to him beeping rapidly. “You can’t be here.” She just smiled down at him, like a shark.

“Oh relax i’m not going to hurt you…” He just looked at her in shock. “This is _Stark_ tower, so…” She reached down and pulled out her knife from her boot. “I’m here for Stark.” and with that, she turned on her heel and strided out of the room leaving Peter alone to sit in his panic.

He had to go after her. He had to save Mr. Stark, she was going to kill him. 

So, he did the only thing he could. He got out of bed and went after her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so school starts again tomorrow and I already want to die:) i'm going into grade 12 at last but goddamn I wish I graduated like 5 years ago bc I hate it here and i'm sick and tired of this small town ugggggh
> 
> Budenge umntwana means foolish child in Xhosa (according to google translate anyway forgive me if i'm wrong)


	16. Inner demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Startled, he pushed away from the wall and staggered backwards so he was standing in the middle of the hallway. Peter looked around himself. His surroundings had changed completely.
> 
> He found that he was no longer in Stark tower, but was back in the factory surrounded by cement and metal pipes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so this took forever to get up, but here it is at last!  
> School started again and so has dance so now I barely have any time to write, but I still try my best. I'm hoping to have this story finished before my birthday (which is in a week) so fingers crossed :)

Peter ripped off all the wires and tubes connected to his body and rolled himself off the bed despite his pain. He landed hard on the floor and had to hold back a scream as his leg collided with the ground painfully. 

He wasted no time, and quickly began to try to climb back to his feet. The screeching and blaring noises being made by the machines around him made his head spin as he pulled himself off the floor using the support of his bed. 

He managed to get his feet underneath himself, leaning heavily on his bed for support and took a step forward with his bad leg. He crumpled back down to the floor instantly with a shout. Peter landed on his hands and knees but flipped over onto his butt and leaned his back against his bed, grabbing at his thigh. 

The pain was nearly unbearable and he groaned in misery. He was already out of breath. Peter had barely even made it to the edge of his bed and he was already ready to give up, he was hurting too much.

He heard a woman's laugh echo from outside his door and steeled himself. He _had_ to keep going. He couldn’t let Magda get to Mr. Stark. 

He had to protect the people he loved.

He reached up a hand and grabbed ahold of the railing on his bed. With determination, he pulled himself upright once again and stumbled forward, dragging his leg behind him in an awkward limp. 

It was painful, but it was progress. 

Something wet and warm began to spill from his thigh and run down his leg but Peter didn’t stop or pay any attention to it, continuing his trek towards the door. 

Just as he reached it he crumpled sideways, coming to lean against the doorframe with all his weight. He also came face to chest with the body of a lanky man holding a clipboard, whom he had never seen before. 

Peters gaze slid upwards so the two made eye contact. They both stared at each other in surprise for a few moments with Peter breathing heavily, disrupting the silence. 

“Mr. Parker-” The man started.

“Did you see where she went, I have to stop her…” He trailed off and whipped his head to the side as he heard more laughter. It was getting farther away. He tried to look around the man's body and down the hall that began outside his room.

“What, who?” the man looked over his shoulder, trying to see what Peter was looking for. When he turned back around his eyes were drawn downwards to Peters leg. “Mr. Parker, I have to ask you to return to your bed.” 

“What?” He looked at the man in shock and confusion. Didn’t he understand that there was a dangerous terrorist on the loose in the tower? Apparently not. “Get out of my way.” He growled. 

The man didn’t budge and Peter began to grow angry as he realized that he wasn’t going to help him. He tightened his grip on the door frame so his knuckles were white, bending the metal under his fingers slightly. There was no way he was going back into bed and there was no way that the man could make him.

The man must have seen the feral look in his eyes because he paled slightly and stepped aside, hugging his clipboard to his chest. 

Smart move, Peter thought. Even in his current condition he was three times stronger than the average man. 

He stumbled out into the hallway and caught himself on the wall before he could fall back to his hands and knees again. He saw the man slip into his room out of the corner of his eye. 

Peter continued forward slowly, remaining upright due to the support of the wall next to him. He recognized the warm, wet liquid dripping down his leg to be blood. It had cascaded down the length of his limb, coating the bottom of his foot, making the floor slippery and increasingly more difficult for him to limp forward on.

But he still trudged on. 

Suddenly, the lights in the hallway dimmed and a red light began to flash from the corners of the ceiling and he froze in place, not sure what that meant.

As he took another small step forward the texture underneath his palms changed from smooth to coarse and cold, and the cool tile under his feet transitioned into a frigid and hollow surface. 

Startled, he pushed away from the wall and staggered backwards so he was standing in the middle of the hallway. Peter looked around himself. His surroundings had changed completely.

He found that he was no longer in Stark tower, but was back in the factory surrounded by cement and metal pipes. 

“No…” he gasped, he wanted to be anywhere but back there. 

Thick arms suddenly came out of nowhere and wrapped around his chest from behind him in a bear hug, picking his body off the ground and he screamed. “NO!” he struggled as hard as he could in the strong grip but it was no use. He kicked and screamed and cried but the person holding him would not let him go.

His heart fell with the thought of being dragged back into his cell and he desperately tried to wriggle out of his captors hold but he could feel his energy beginning to fail. 

He would do anything to prevent himself from going back there, from being put back into that chair, from being tied down again. 

One thing was for certain… Peter was not going back without a fight. 

 

Tonys little ‘checkup’ was taking more than 5 minutes. It was verging on 15 and he was beginning to get antsy. 

Dr. Cole seemed casual though, so Tony tried to calm himself. 

She was applying some burn salve to his leg when a red flashing light from outside the room caught their attention. They both paused mid-conversation to look at the light, then at each other in confusion.

“Fri, what’s going on?” He broke the confused silence. “Is that some sort of alarm?”

“It is the patient emergency alert sir. It appears to have been set off by Peters nurse, as Peter is taking a little stroll down the west wing corridor.” F.R.I.D.A.Y replied, sounding slightly worried. 

“He’s what?!” Tony exclaimed. Cole was on the move at once, quickly rushing to the sink and washing her hands while Tony readjusted his pant leg and hopped off the examination table. “That little shit.” 

“Stay here.” She pointed at him with a threatening stare as she hustled out of the room.

“Like hell.” he muttered following after her. 

It wasn’t hard to locate Peter. All they had to do was follow the sound of Peter screaming bloody murder and suddenly they were just down the hall from each other. 

Steve was holding Peter off the ground from behind, his arms were tightly wrapped across Peters chest, pinning his arms down to his sides while the kid bucked and cried. Peter seemed to be struggling with all his might, though his strength was waning. The look on Steve's face clearly demonstrated that he was barely keeping the boy restrained. 

Tony rushed to their side, wary of Peters flailing limbs and tried to calm him down as Cole quickly looked him over. His leg was covered in blood, meaning he had tore his stitches.

“Peter, Peter calm down buddy…” He tried his best to make himself heard over top of Peters unintelligible cries, but Peter clenched his eyes and tossed his head, not hearing a word Tony was saying. 

“Put him back in his room, i’m going to grab a sedative.” Cole ordered sternly before turning on her heel and running back down the hallway. 

“Right. Follow me.” Tony began to lead Steve down the hallway, as he didn’t know where Peter's room was. 

Peter was still struggling and was beginning to slip out from Steve's grasp so he hoisted Peter farther upwards and flipped him over so he was strewn over his shoulder. Peter pounded his fists into Steves back, but they lacked any real strength. Peter was getting weaker. 

He marched down the hall in front of Steve, determined not to look back at the man who was carrying his sobbing, screaming kid. The kid whos cries were starting to sound more like actual words and not just wails of terror and pain. 

“...please no… don’t put me back there… please, I don’t want to go back… please…” Tony could barely make out his words that were uttered in between shouts and gasps for air. 

He ignored him even though it physically pained him to do it and barged into Peter's empty hospital room. 

Tony raced to Peters bed and pulled back the tangled blankets so Steve had a clear space to set him down on. The machines around his bed were raging and it added to the chaos of the moment.

Steve laid Peter down on the bed as gently as he could with Peter still struggling in his hold. As soon as the kid made contact with the sheets he immediately tried rolling off the bed again. Steve placed his hands on Peters shoulders to keep him in place but it only freaked him out even more. 

“No… no…” Peter moaned as he cried and tossed his head.

“Peter, it’s ok kiddo, you’re fine…” He reached out his hands to place them on Peters face.

“Don’t touch him Tony. You’ll only make it worse.” Steve warned and Tony hesitated. 

He disregarded Steves caution with a defiant glare and rested a hand on Peters forehead. Peter was hot and sweaty but Tony didn’t think he had a fever. This must be what Dr. Cole meant by Peter getting ‘worse’. 

As he retracted his hand something latched onto his wrist, holding him back.

“T-Tony…” Peters eyes were on his face and his fingers were wrapped tightly around his wrist. 

“Hey kid.” He tried his best to flash a convincing smile. Peters grip on his arm was slowly getting tighter. “Could you let go of my wrist please?” It was getting uncomfortably tight.

“Y-you’re alive… you’re ok…” Peters breaths started to pick up in pace, and his grip didn’t loosen.

“Yeah kiddo, i’m fine. Now let go.” His fingers had gone tingly and the pressure building around his wrist was becoming painful. “Peter, let go.” He could hear his voice rise slightly in panic. Peter didn’t seem to be listening, he gazed at Tony as if he could see straight through him. “Peter?”

Cole burst into the room just as something in his wrist crunched painfully. The sensation of his bones grinding together sent spikes of pain shooting down his entire arm and he grimaced and squeezed his eyes shut in pain. 

He opened them again just in time to witness Cole inject a needle into Peters neck. Gradually, the hold on his wrist loosened until it was gone entirely, and Peters arm dropped limply to his side. 

He was out. 

Tony stepped away from the bed, clutching his arm to his chest as Steve released Peters shoulders and stepped away also. 

“What the hell was that?” Steve asked, faintly out of breath. 

“That was what a traumatized, severely agitated, and hallucinating kid looks like.” Dr. Cole answered, stepping closer to Peter to examine his leg and undo his bandages. “Well, he definitely tore open his stitches alright.” She sighed.

Tony released his arm from his clutches. He held it out in front of him, rotating his wrist gently to the sides and hissed as more jolts of pain ran up his arm. He didn’t think it was broken, maybe just sprained. 

“Are you alright?” Steve asked and Tony looked up at him in mild surprise.

“Yeah, I think so…” His attention was drawn away from Steve when Shuri came running in the door.

“What happened, I heard shouting.” She paused and looked down at Peter when no one answered her right away. “Oh you _stupid_ …” She walked closer to the end of Peters bed where the boy was now sleeping peacefully. “What happened?” She looked over to Tony.

“He was hallucinating and decided to go for a walk down the hallway by himself.” He plainly stated and Shuri opened her mouth in disappointment. He raised his hands in mock surrender.

“Don’t look at me- she made me leave him alone.” He pointed at Cole who was attending to Peters bloody leg and Shuri followed his direction with her eyes. “Wait a second…” Tony realized that something was off about her and he stepped closer to her as she turned back around to face him… she seemed better- healthier. The bruises on her face and around her eyes were gone and she seemed to have more energy. But something else was still missing… “Where’s your cast?” 

She smirked at him suddenly, all traces of prior anger were washed away and replaced with amusement. Tony looked at her with incredibility, she appeared to be completely normal. 

“It’s gone, I don’t need it anymore.” She looked up at Tony smugly and Dr. Coles head poked up from where she was working on Peter.

“What! Who took that off for you, your arm is-” She started to fret.

“-is fine. It’s completely healed, so I figured I didn’t need a cast anymore.” Tony and Shuri didn’t break eye contact, she looked at him with a smirk and he looked at her with admiration.

“What are you talking about, you had a shattered radius not even 24 hours ago, there’s no way that-” He leaned forward a bit so he was beside Shuris ear, and tuned out Coles rant.

“Did your medical team arrive?” He pulled away and Shuri nodded her head, smiling.

“Yes. Would you mind if we took him off your hands?” Tony looked over at Dr. Cole whose eyes were darting between the pair, she was obviously confused.

“Be my guest…” He gestured a sore wrist to Peters sleeping form. He had heard of the Wakandans medical techniques and knew that they were the closest thing to magic. Shuri was living proof. “...besides, Cole I think that you’ve earned a nice break, don’t you?” The woman took a step back. She was tossing her gaze between him, Shuri, and Steve who had been standing quietly off to the side. 

“I-what…” She looked at him long and hard, unsure if she understood what he was suggesting. “If you’re sure…” she sounded uncertain. 

“Positive. It was nice working with you.” Cole took in a deep breath, nodded her head, and exited the room. When she was gone Tony turned back to face Shuri. “I guess you’ve got this handled now?” She looked at Peter and her smile faded a bit before she started pressing on her kimoyo beads. 

“ _We’ve_ got him handled now actually.” She looked back up at him with a renewed smile. “Afterwards we will take care of you.” She nodded towards his swollen wrist. “You can wait out in the hall if you like, but don’t get too comfortable. This won’t even take an hour.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I reread this fic a couple days ago and wtf I make Peter cry so much I should probably calm down with the tears. 
> 
> Also I don't seem to be very good at writing the 'comfort' part of this h/c so yeah, i'll make it up to you guys in the next chapter.


	17. Healing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> God, these kids, where did he keep finding them? They seemed to gravitate towards him as if he was magnetized or was holding a massive sign that read “In search of genius teenagers, obsessed with memes and science, and who have huge guilt complexes”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter finally and oh god it feels so good to finally publish it  
> i'm sorry it's up so late but i'm a depressed little shit who procrastinates A LOT and i know i said I wanted to have this up by my birthday but that was a little while ago (i'm 17 now whoopie) and now its thanksgiving???? where did the time go?
> 
> anywho since it is the last chap, I wanted to thank all of you for reading this, especially those who have been around since the beginning! I had a great time writing this and I hope you all had a good time reading it. It's only my second ever fanfic and my first ever big(ish) story and I hope that I will only progress from here on out.
> 
> Let me know if i missed any thing in the comments. I tried my best to wrap everything up cleanly, and probably missed a couple of details because I spit this out in one go :)
> 
> Thank you all again! -Maggie

Since they had time to kill while they waited for the Wakandans to finish their work on Peter, Steve decided to fill Tony in on what had happened the previous night. 

“I thought you would want to sit down and talk with the whole team about this?” Tony asked as he sank further into the waiting room chair, chin resting on his hand that was propped up on the arm rest. The padded leather seat wasn’t as plush as the chair in Peter's room but it still felt like heaven to his exhausted body. 

“...we did.” Steve hesitantly looked at him from his seat beside him, grimacing slightly. Tony's tired eyes met Steves and his eyebrows raised in question. 

“Oh?” He drew his head back to glance down at the watch laying against the wrist he was previously resting against. It was almost 9:30. Damn. “Ouch, you met without me? Stevie, i’m hurt.” He mock pouted. He wasn’t really angry, just mildly surprised. 

“Yeah sorry, I tried calling you but you didn’t pick up your phone-”

“Shit, I forgot.” He cut Steve off briefly but the man didn’t continue afterwards, he simply looked at him with his mouth ajar, confusion painted over his facial features. “Pepper stole my phone.” Steve nodded slowly.

“Oh… ok.” Tony placed his chin back in his hand and Steve cleared his throat. “Um- anyway, as I was saying. We couldn’t get ahold of you personally so we asked F.R.I.D.A.Y where you were and she said that you were sleeping in Peters recovery room, so we all decided- well actually it was Nats idea, that we leave you alone this time.”

“Oh.” Tony couldn’t make his mouth form any other words. His team had taken pity on him. Tony was getting soft. 

“Yeah, we weren't going to leave you out of anything though, just fill you in afterwards. I was actually on my way to talk to you when that… whole thing happened.” Steve stared off down the hallway where Peter's room was located, his eyes taking on a vacant sheen. There was still blood smeared on the tile flooring, leaving a red trail all the way back to Peters now closed door. 

“Thanks for that by the way.” He adjusted himself into a comfier position in his chair. “You’re probably the only person on this planet that can restrain him without sedatives.” They sat for a few minutes in silence after Steve nodded his head in his usual graceful humility. 

Tony's mind started to wander and he squeezed his sore wrist absentmindedly. Where had Pepper gone off with his phone? He needed to talk with her after he was done with Steve to find out how things went with May. 

“So um, where do you want me to start?” Tony pulled his gaze from the floor where it had wandered while he was thinking.

“Uh anywhere I guess, i’m not picky.” He cut himself off with a quick sniff and began to wring his hands together in anticipation.

“Okay well a group of Wakandans just headed back over the ruins of the factory to search for any possible evidence that could have been left behind from the Yellow Snakes. We wanted to look around more last night but it was too dark, and Peters health was more important.” Steve paused and scrunched his face in thought as his brain tried to recall any important info that needed to be passed on to Tony. 

He must be exhausted, Tony thought. It had been a long couple of days for all of them and even though they had the kids back, the fight wasn’t over yet. They now had a super rich terrorist organization on the loose that they had no way of tracking.

“I have Nat stationed back on their spy, to try and get any more information on where they could have escaped to, but I…” Steve released a heavy sigh. “I think it's pointless.” 

“Yeah, when I got a glimpse of him the other day he looked like something out of a horror movie. I wouldn’t be surprised if she couldn’t get anything else from him.” He tried to smile lightly but judging by the look on Steve's face, it looked as forced as it felt. 

“Oh yeah there's that too, I suppose. I was thinking that it didn’t matter what base they fled to because they have so many right? And now that they know we have their spy they most likely wouldn’t go to an obvious one, like one that the spy would know about.” Tony stared off into space, brain racing a mile a minute. “Do you know what I mean? I’m sorry if this is confusing I just-” Tony snapped back to attention.

“What no, I get it you’re good-”

“It was a long night, and my head is just… not quite all there.”

“It’s fine.” They met each others eyes and stared in awkward silence. “I understand.” Tony cleared his throat and looked away from his old friend. Were they friends again? Tony couldn’t tell. 

They were saved from another awkward silence when they heard the distant whoosh of the elevator doors opening, followed by the familiar click of heels against a tile flooring. The two men unconsciously pulled themselves upright so they were sitting straighter in their chairs. 

Tony sunk back down when Pepper rounded the corner. 

“Oh, there you are.” Her eyes washed over the sight of the two of them sitting next to each other, and having a civil, almost colloquial conversation. She suddenly looked very smug and satisfied causing Tony feel sheepish and give her a small one handed wave as a greeting.

“Hey Pep.” he ground out as she walked over to them and Steve hopped out of his seat, offering it to her even though there were plenty of other seats in the waiting room. The action was very gentlemanly. 

“Oh, Steve are you sure? I don’t want to scare you away.” She smiled and patted Steves arm gently. Tony shrunk further into his uncomfortableness. He crossed his legs, then uncrossed them, then recrossed them with the opposite leg on top. 

“No, it’s alright Pepper I was just leaving.” 

“If you’re sure…” Steve only nodded and so Pepper sat down as he turned away. The big man was making his way down the hallway that Pepper had just come down when Tony hollered after him.

“Rogers!” Steve turned around. “Keep me updated on the Wakandan search!”

“Of course!” he yelled back.

Then he was gone, leaving Pepper in his place.

“Do you have my phone?” He kept his gaze forward and changed the topic before she had a chance to ask about how things were going with Steve. 

“Yes I do.” He heard her start shuffling around in her seat and he held out an open palm for her to place his phone in while he waited. When he felt the cool metal in his hand he brought it to his lap, quickly checking that it was his before stuffing it in his back pocket.

“Thanks.” He said simply before turning his head to lock eyes and take in her beauty. 

“You’re welcome.” She smiled sweetly. Unlike the rest of them, the stress of the last few days didn’t seem to have a physical effect on Pepper. She was still the most beautiful woman Tony had ever seen, and he couldn’t resist leaning closer to her to steal a quick kiss. “Sorry about not getting you your phone back sooner.” She hummed when they pulled their lips apart, the only contact that remained was their fingers intertwining and their foreheads nuzzling together. 

“Hey, it’s fine.” He breathed, inhaling her scent. She smelled clean and fresh, like warmth and sunshine and Tony relaxed in her presence.

“Mm-hm, the call with May went on longer than I expected.”

“How’d she take it?” He leaned in for another kiss, her words not registering in his mind yet. He was abruptly stopped when his lips met a finger and not Peppers mouth. He slowly opened his eyes to see her stern expression looking down at him.

“Not good Tony. She was pretty upset.” He pulled away from her cold finger to sit upright in his chair again. 

“That’s understandable.” He sniffed and started to pick at the skin around his fingernails but Pepper prevented him by grabbing his hands and pulling them away so his focus would be on her. 

“She’s going to be here in a few hours, so I suggest you clean yourself up.” 

“Ok.” He sighed. “What did you tell her?”

“Everything she needs to know.” Tony didn’t know what that had meant and stared at her, mouth spluttering as his brain tried to formulate a question. Pepper just laughed at him. “Go take a shower.” She pushed at his back, trying to get him out of the chair. “You smell like garbage.” He stood up and faced her. He supposed he would have time for a quick shower before Shuri finished with Peter.

“Come with me?” He gave her his best version of the puppy dog eyes. Tony wasn’t used to begging for anything, but he was feeling rather lonely. He wasn’t looking for sex, he just needed the company.

“No, i’m busy.” She smirked and Tony pulled her from her seat. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his around her waist. Her face fit perfectly in the crook of his neck. 

“If you didn’t want to spend time with me, then why’d you come looking for me?” He asked and she hummed in his ear.

“You’ve got me there.” 

“Please?” He asked quietly, pleading. She squeezed him tighter.

“Alright.” She whispered back.

 

Shuri and the Wakandans had worked their magic on Peters leg and his other physical injuries, however there was nothing they could do about his hallucinations or the other withdrawal symptoms. 

“I’m sorry Mr. Stark but there’s nothing else that I can do for him without the assistance of my lab back at home.” Shuri stated with sad eyes as the two stood in the doorway of Peter's hospital room. 

The kid looked much healthier. His face had much more colour to it and his skin was clear of any signs or forms of the bruises and burns that had been there not hours earlier. His leg was no longer propped up on pillows and the big fluffy blanket had been draped across his unconscious body. 

Peter looked like he was finally at peace.

“You can you use my lab if you want. Anything you think you need, it’s yours.” Tony didn’t hesitate to offer her assistance. He didn’t want to watch anymore of Peters hallucinations. They were distressing and Tony didn’t want to see Peter in any more pain, even if it was imaginary. 

“Thank you, Mr. Stark, but I _need my_ technology. I could ask for someone to bring me more things, or I could go back home to work but by the time I gather a solution, Peter will have most likely healed on his own.” 

“So what can we do?” 

“Wait it out. It should only last for another day or two, and he will probably remain unconscious for the most of it while his body burns off the rest of the drugs.” Tony only nodded his head as he gazed at Peters sleeping form. This kid was going to be the death of him. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.” 

Tony brought his focus to the teen standing beside him. She had done so much to help Peter already, even more than he had and he hadn’t been a prisoner for three days straight. 

God, these kids, where did he keep finding them? They seemed to gravitate towards him as if he was magnetized or was holding a massive sign that read “In search of genius teenagers, obsessed with memes and science, and who have huge guilt complexes”. 

He nudged at her arm playfully, in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Hey, you’re doing your best. We all are. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it’s enough, and sometimes it really isn’t, but the point is, we’re trying, and we’re going to get through this.” She looked up at him with wide eyes. “And you said yourself that Peter will be fine in a few more days, so what's there to worry about?” 

He gave her his first real smile, even though it was a small one. He wasn’t sure where those words had come from. They were oddly… inspiring, and weren’t something that he would usually say.

“I guess so... thank you.” Her voice was small and sounded slightly confused.

“So when do you plan on returning to Wakanda?” Tony asked, changing the subject. Shuri stiffened beside him.

“I’m not leaving until he gets better.” She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. Tony deemed that this must be a sensitive topic.

“Ok… I know T’challa wants to see you again, and your mother.” Shuri deflated a little at the thought of her family.

“My mother and brother can see me again face to face when Peter is fully healed. He is my patient now, and is under my care. I’m not leaving until he gets better.” She sounded less sure of herself. “And he’s my friend.” she added quietly.

Tony placed his hand on her shoulder in silent comfort. He understood. 

Something vibrated in his back pocket and he jumped before he realized it was just his phone. Shuri laughed at him as he pulled it out.

“Are you alright?” She giggled and he smirked at the sound.

He didn’t give her the satisfaction of answering, instead he roamed his eyes over the phone screen in search of the cause of the vibration. It was a text from Happy.

_Happy: Hey, Pepper wanted me to pick up the kids aunt from the airport and drive her to the tower. Thought I would let you know i’ve got her and we’re on our way over now. Will be there in an hour tops_

Tony's thumbs hovered over the keypad as he decided how to respond back.

 _Tony: ok see you then_

 

Shuris predictions about Peters hallucinations came true, and unfortunately, May arrived in the middle of a bad one.

They thought it would be best to keep her from seeing the sobbing mess that was her nephew, but she refused to back down and eventually they caved, deciding that Tony would be the best person to bring her to his room. 

His screams could be heard from down the hallway but May’s steps never faltered as she marched alongside Tony. When he opened the door for her she froze at the sight of its occupant, her face became stony and unreadable. A mask.

Tony thought for sure that she would step back and leave the room in a hurry, but instead she swallowed hard and walked inside.

God bless the strength of parents.

Tony watched her sit down in one of the chairs by Peters bed, her body looked painfully tight and tense. He knew that there was no comfort that he could offer either of them and so he solemnly turned and gently shut the door, leaving her to sit and watch her nephew scream and cry and weakly pull on his vibranium restraints. 

 

Peter had a few more episodes, but was staying awake and coherent between them, which made everyone hopeful and happy. He was able to crack a few jokes with Shuri and talk with May and Tony before he would have a nap, or start hallucinating again. 

Shuri assured all of them that he was getting better.

Then, one day, without warning, Peter fell asleep.

It was after Peter had been asleep for more than 12 hours when May spoke up.

“Are you sure this is… right?” She was holding onto Peters slack hand as he slept. Tony sat in the chair on the other side of the bed, lightly dozing.

“Yep. Shuri said this is natural, it’s just his body burning off the last remnants of the drugs.” Tony’s voice came out deep and gravelly. He was tired and was craving a warm cup of coffee. He had spent the majority of Peters recovery time either sitting at his bedside or tinkering around in his workshop, he only slept when Pepper forced him to.

“I know but it’s been so long.” May reached up and started to rearranged Peters curls. Tony watched the kids fingers twitch slightly against his bedsheets at the contact. That was the only movement that he would make since he had fallen asleep. 

Tony would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried. But he trusted Shuri more than any doctor or specialist and wouldn’t doubt her word.

“Sir, Captain Rogers requests your presence in the 26th floor conference room. He says it is urgent.” F.R.I.D.A.Y interrupted their conversation. He looked at May before responding.

“Tell him i’m on my way.” He got up and walked out of the room. He waited until he reached the safety confines of the elevator before asking F.R.I.D.A.Y what the subject of the meeting was.

“He says it has to do with the Wakandan search at the factory.”

“Really?” Interest sparked in his chest. 

“Yes. He says they found something.”

Steve, Shuri, a Wakandan scientist and two Dora Milaje members were either seated or standing around the large table that filled the room when Tony walked in. Sitting in the middle of the table was a small piece of metal.

As Tony got closer to it he realized it was some sort of device. He didn’t recognize it at all, and it appeared to be badly damaged.

“Mr. Stark.” He wasn’t sure who greeted him, he couldn’t take his eyes off of the strange piece on the table. He placed his palms on the edge of the table and leaned against them.

“What’s that?” He asked, nodding his head towards the object.

“What we called you here for.” Steve answered. “I told you I would let you know if we found anything at the factory site. We believe it’s alien tech, and it’s how they were evading all our attempts at tracking them.”

Tony reached out and grabbed the foreign technology, carefully turning it in his hands and examining it.

“We were thinking that if we were to figure out how it worked then we could use it to track them, and start to take down their bases.” Steve continued. Tony gave a soft grunt and nodded his head. 

“It’s a good idea, but it seems to be pretty busted. I don’t know if I could fix it…” He admitted, and set the alien tech back down on the table.

“Maybe you can’t but I could.” Shuri spoke up, gathering everyone's attention. 

“Well then, you should get started. The sooner we start hunting them down, the sooner we get put an end to their organization.” Tony encouraged, but Shuri didn’t seem enthusiastic. 

“I would need my lab back at home…” She spoke softly, almost sadly. Everyone in the room seemed to be confused at her behaviour, but Tony knew why she was upset. If she left now she wouldn’t be able to say goodbye to Peter.

“My princess, you have overstayed your trip here. Your family misses you, and you have a project to work on now. It is time to return home to Wakanda.” The Wakandan scientist sitting beside her spoke up and began to persuade her to leave. Tony couldn’t help but agree with them.

She placed her head in her hands and sighed. “Ok. But there's one more thing I need to do for Peter before I leave.”

“Anything you want, just no pranking or sabotaging.” Tony replied with a comforting smile. 

At this, she hopped out of her seat and scampered out of the room.

A few hours later she went home. 

And a few days after that, Peter woke up.

 

The first thing he did was yawn.

It was huge and burst out of his chest as soon as he woke up, before he could even open his eyes. The yawn started a chain of events in his body and a need to stretch spread across his chest and down his arms, his muscles expanded and a few joints popped as he-

“PETER BENJAMIN PARKER!” something assaulted him from both of his sides, squeezing him painfully and he yelled in shock as his eyes flew open. His body jerked upright and he came face to face with a relieved but angry looking May. 

Before he could say “Oh, hi aunt May!” or “Hello May, what time is it, because it’s really dark out and I usually don’t take naps”, she started running her fingers up and down his chest hitting all his ticklish weak spots.

“Ahh hey! Stop- May!” He dropped back down onto his bed to try and get away from her hands, he could barely breathe he was laughing so hard.

“You little shit! I’ve been worried sick! How could you do this to me?” It was hard for Peter to hear over the sound of his giggles.

“I’m sorry, i’m sorry- stop! May please!” The hands retreated and suddenly she was sitting on his bed beside him, reaching out a hand to place on his forehead.

“How are you feeling? You’ve been asleep for days.” He grabbed her wrist and pulled it off his face.

“Days?” What reason did he have to sleep that long? Everyone had been telling him that he would need to sleep off the rest of the withdrawal but Peter didn’t think that it would take days, maybe just a couple of hours.

May must have seen the confused look on his face because she scooped his upper body into a tight hug. Peter hugged her back just as tightly.

“I’m sorry-” He started but May shushed him.

“Don’t start with that. None of this was your fault.” They kept on holding each other until Peters eyes began to sting with unshed tears. She must have been so worried about him. Peter felt so guilty, but she wouldn't let him apologize. He sniffled into her shirt, and she squeezed him even tighter. “Are you sure you’re alright baby?”

“Yeah, i’m ok.” He finally pulled back and wiped at his eyes and looked around the room. The chair next to his bed that was so oftenly occupied was empty. “Where’s Mr. Stark?”

“He’s probably asleep. It’s the middle of the night you know.” 

“Oh. And Shuri?” May chewed the inside of her lip, making Peter worry. She reached over and brushed away a few stray hairs from his face.

“She had to go home.” Peters heart sunk in his chest. They didn’t get to say goodbye. “I’m sure you guys can meet up again in the future.” May sounded slightly unsure and Peters mood darkened.

“Yeah. Maybe.”

“Are you tired?” She suddenly asked, distracting Peter from his thoughts. 

“Not really.” He shrugged.

“I didn’t think so. Are you up for a walk?” She stood up from his bed and cracked her back. “I’m in the mood for some hot chocolate.” Peter felt his lips curl into a small smile. She always knew what to say to cheer him up. 

“I think I can handle that.” He stated before swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing up beside May with her assistance. 

 

It was good to see Mr. Stark with a real smile on his face again. He was glad that the man had stopped fretting over him, though Peter doubted that the man would ever stop fretting over him.

He also got to meet Rhodey, Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff, and even CAPTAIN FREAKING AMERICA. He had asked Peter to call him Steve. Peter could have swooned. The last time they had met, they had to beat each other up. Now they could be buddies. 

Peter had to stay at the tower for a few extra days for observation, but he didn’t mind. He liked spending his time with the avengers and Mr. Stark, and May, though he did find himself missing Shuri an awful lot. 

He was super bummed out that she had left while he was sleeping like a disney princess, and even more bummed that they didn’t have any ways of contacting each other. He hadn’t quite worked up the nerve to ask Tony if he could call T’challa for him. He knew he had his number. 

Since he was deemed healthy enough to walk around, he was told he wouldn’t have to stay in the tiny hospital room anymore, and could sleep in in his own room at the tower again. 

Peter thought that Tony was only letting him sleep back in his own room because it was closer to his mentors, in case something happened in the night. Peter was secretly thankful for that. Nightmares are hard to deal with on your own.

As he finally escaped to the security and privacy of his bedroom walls he breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone had been clustering and pestering him all day, and it was starting to piss him off. He knew that they were just worried and protective, but he wasn’t a baby, and he could take care of himself. He was Spiderman for crying out loud.

Speaking of Spiderman… it had been a while since he had put on the suit.

Too long.

He glanced over to his closet where it was strewn on the floor. Exactly where he had left it. 

The temptation was tugging at him, begging him to put it on and go save the world, but he held himself back. There was no way he was going to add even more stress to everyone's backs. They deserved better after working so hard to take him back from his kidnappers. 

He shivered at the memory of Magda and her goons and decided to distract himself by getting ready for bed.

He shuffled out of his washroom and shut off the lights as he went by. He was about to hop into his bed when something caught his eye.

Something small and purple was glowing on top of his dresser. He stepped closer to it, studying it. The light illuminating off of it burned his sensitive eyes but he couldn’t take his eyes off it. 

It was a singular kimoyo bead.

He gently picked it up and rolled it around his fingers before holding it in his palm. Where did it come from?

Suddenly, it came to life and projected a very realistic looking Shuri into the middle of his bedroom. He jumped back in shock, she looked as if she was standing right in front of him.

_“Hello Peter, this is a recorded message. If you’re watching this then you’ve woken up from your beauty sleep! I hate to break it to you, but the sound of you snoring isn’t very attractive and I got tired of watching you lie there all day, so I came home.”_

She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. Peter could tell she was joking, Mr. Stark had told him how badly she didn’t want to leave him. 

_“Anyway, you’re watching this on a kimoyo bead that I specifically designed to respond to your fingerprints, when this message is over, you can call me by tapping it three times. I’m not going to say too much more now that we can communicate whenever we want and i’m going to be expecting regular calls so you better not leave me hanging. Before I end this video there’s one more thing I forgot to ask you… how did you take down Captain America?”_ She winked at him before her image flickered, then disappeared entirely. 

And that’s when Peter knew, things would be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sequel?????
> 
> (I mean it has potential... the yellow snakes did get away with a case full of Petes DNA... just saying)
> 
>  
> 
> Please leave me comments. They fill me with such joy. Thanks friends.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like please leave a comment or Kudos
> 
> also don't judge me too harshly i'm still new to the writing side of fanfiction :)


End file.
